


Fan the Flames

by ThatOneKinkyBitch



Series: Fire in Your Eyes [1]
Category: GOT7, JJ Project
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Army General!Youngjae, Hidden Relationships, Hierarchy, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, King!Jackson, King!Jinyoung, King!Mark, King's Gaurd!Jaebum, Knight!BamBam, Knight!Yugyeom, M/M, More tags to be added, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-05-25 00:00:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14964746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOneKinkyBitch/pseuds/ThatOneKinkyBitch
Summary: Prosperity, growth, harmony; those were all the things his father had in mind when he changed their Kingdom's flag to designs of different shades of green. It taunted Jinyoung, mocked him until he had to run away to his room and take a breathe. His father had left him to pick up the pieces of this Kingdom, but to do that, he would have to abandon the morals that had been set. His personal Guard, Jaebum, tried his best to keep the newly-crowned King out of trouble, but once Jinyoung's mind was set on something, there was no going back.





	1. Prologue

"Permission to speak, Your Highness?" 

Jinyoung sighed at the man to the left of the throne, exasperation dulling the light in his eyes. "Jaebum, there's no one in the room, you don't have to ask me to  _speak_ , let alone call me 'Your Highness'."

"Permission to _speak_ , Your  _Highness_?" Sighing again, Jinyoung waved his hand in dismissal. "Your Highness, if the Queen catches you without your crown on your head, she'll _cut_  said head _off_."

"Well one, Mother isn't queen anymore; with good reason too, the stress was killing the poor woman," Jinyoung whispered. "And two, the crown is  _annoying_."

His words reigned true, believe him. The object itself was genuinely heavy on his head, a gold-titanium alloy adorned with emeralds upon emeralds, all deep in hue. The position itself was also tiring, the pressure to rule a whole kingdom after his father's assassination weighing him down in more ways than one.

"And I understand that, Your Highness, but unless you want us  _both_ to hear her endless nagging, just put the  _damn thing_ on your  _fucking head_." Grinning at his guard, Jinyoung picked up his crown from the place beside him and placed it on his head innocently.

" _There's_ my Jaebummie," Jinyoung teased. Jaebum simply glared and looked to the doors once again, but Jinyoung knew he didn't truly mind.

"But how are you, Your Highness?" Jaebum asked softly, only glancing at the King for a brief moment.

"Pardon me?"h

"Well... what with your father's--"

"Jaebum Im if you know what is good for you, you will close your mouth this  _instant_ ," the King spat. Sadly, it didn't deter his guard.

"Are you just going to pretend it didn't happen?"

"Is  _this_ ," Jinyoung hissed, gesturing to the throne room around them, "pretending it didn't happen?" Jaebum stiffened awkwardly. "Here's me admitting it, Im; my father got an  _arrow_ between his eyes, my mother might just die form heartbreak, and I have to save this kingdom from an heir that was much to kind for its own good." Jinyoung leaned further back in his throne, pinching the bridge of his nose as he locked eyes with Jaebum. "I need you with me on this, Jaebum; I can't do this by myself."

"Of course, Jinyoung," Jaebum replied, quicker than his reflexes in combat. "My duty is to stand by you and protect you."

"As my guard or as my friend?"

"Both; you know I care deeply for you, Your Highness." 

Jinyoung smiled bitterly. "Not like my mother gives you much of a choice."

"Do not undermine my intentions of keeping you safe, Jinyoung. Not only is it unfair, it is un _true_." The king shrunk away from the icy glare he knew was in Jaebum's eyes, but nodded.

"My apologies, Jaebum." Jaebum sighed, but stood up straighter when a knock came on the throne room door. "Who is it?" Jinyoung called, weaker than he would like, but hey, it'd been a long day.

"A mother can't visit her son?" Jinyoung's eyes widened at the sound of his mother's voice, but immediately stood up to go open the door himself.

"I... can't let you do that, Jinnie," Jaebum said with a wince. He called for the guards that were with the previous queen, telling them to let her enter.

"Goodness, I miss when I could enter the throne room without all of this hassle," his mother teased, making a beeline for her son. She regarded Jaebum with a cool gaze. "Actually, you're the reason I'm here, Jaebum Im."

Jaebum stood straighter at the mention of his name, but the look in the widow's eyes set Jinyoung off. "Mother, what is the meaning of this?"

"Is it true this scoundrel is teaching you sword combat behind my back?"

See, the great thing about being King was that you had to master your poker face; your subjects couldn't know what saddened you, your enemies couldn't know what made you upset, and your  _mother_ couldn't know that your guard taught you  _combat_. 

"Nothing goes on in this palace that you aren't aware of, Mother," Jinyoung explained. "I have a kingdom to run, I don't have  _time_ to take up sword fighting." His mother seemed to have the audacity to look guilty. "And to call Jaebum a scoundrel? When you offered to take him in? Don't be so harsh, mother. Now, its there anything else you needed?"

"Only to tell you that this kingdom is your father's legacy," she whispered, "so do not mess it up."

Jinyoung decided not to tell his mother that he planned to start the whole place from scratch.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Silex, when Google translated (i know, how reliable) from Latin to English, means 'flint'.

The universe was  _testing him_.

Jaebum was human; was he abnormally strong? Yes. Has he handled emotional and physically trauma unfitting of his meek 25 years? Most definitely. But that, in no way, shape, or form, meant he was supposed to endure the sight of Jinyoung twisting and moving elegantly in the soft moonlight. His mirthful eyes gleamed more than usual at this time of night, looking down at Jaebum with amusement so rarely showcased within the castle walls--

Oh, Jaebum was just tossed on his ass.

"Jaebummie, come  _on_ ; I didn't ask you to come spar with me just to lie  _down_ ," Jinyoung whined.

"How  _old_ are you," the guard muttered, "to be whining at me like a  _child_?" Before Jinyoung could respond to his teasing, Jaebum was thrusting his wooden sword at the King's throat. In a flash of playful smirks and twinkling laughs, Jinyoung was disarming his guard and holding him back with the tip of the sparring sword pressed against his chest.

"Ah Jaebummie, do I have to get a new guard? Could you even protect-- _me_!" Jinyoung blinked up at the guard, curiosity in his eyes as to just  _how_ Jaebum managed to throw him down onto the ground.

"Don't ever question my ability to protect you, My King," Jaebum warned. "It's an insult to my ability."  _And how I feel about you_. 

But Jaebum was a coward, and the second part of that sentence wouldn't be spoken.

"Touché," is all the King said.

"Do you think your mother will find out about this?" Immediately Jinyoung's mood soured, looking up at the moon as if it would give him all the answers he sought.

"I don't understand  _her_ ; why am I not allowed to know how to defend myself? What if my kingdom needs me in war--"

"Whoa, Jin, that's... crazy. Don't talk like that. Knock on some wood, my God." 

Reaching over lazily to rap his knuckles against the wood of their swords, Jinyoung huffed. "But you get my point, right? I should be able to defend myself."

"If you can defend yourself, what am I here for?"

"To make me look even better than I usually do?"

Jinyoung didn't see the withering glare he got from his guard. "If these swords weren't sharp enough to deal a little damage, I'd  _throw one at you_." The words made him laugh as he looked up to the stars in the sky, smiling at their blinking and shimmering.

"Sometimes I wish I was a star; far away from any problems and shining bright for others."

"You're already hot headed and heavy, you don't need more star-like qualities."

Jaebum fully accepted the boot thrown at his head.

o.O.o

Jaebum and Jinyoung were walking together towards the garden when it happened.

"Sir, a word?" Jaebum's ears perked up at the sound of the army general's voice, arching a brow at his buzzing energy.

"Yes, Choi?"

"My soldiers are being... less than cooperative," Youngjae explained, his hand fiddling with the handle of his sword.

"And what would that have to do with me, Choi?" Jaebum heard Jinyoung scoff form behind him, but he payed the soft noise no mind.

"Well,  _you_ used to be army general before me, and you're so much scarier than I am; I don't think they're afraid of me after having you as their general." And it was a fair assessment, what Youngjae was saying. Before being moved up to the position of King's Guard, Jaebum was the army general for Silex's army. There was no soldier in the army that did not fear Jaebum Im.

Except Youngjae, of course.

"I can't train your soldiers for you, Choi," Jaebum pressed.

"I'm aware of that, Sir, but if they know  _you're_ watching them and keeping an eye on them, they won't act out."

"No one gets anywhere by someone else's efforts, Mr. Choi," Jinyoung pipes up. "Do you want your soldiers to respect  _you_ or Jaebum?"

"I really just want them to stop making jokes about me behind my back."

"Youngjae--"

"You should do it, Jaebum." The guard looked at Jinyoung as if he'd lost his mind, but the King seemed completely content to send Jaebum on his way to the training grounds. "Don't necessarily do all of the work for him, but just... give them all a little nudge. It'll do you some good to have some fresh air, too."

"Your Highness, we were just about to head to the gard--"

"So then it should be more than fine to go help Mr. Choi. When was the last time you sparred, anyway?" Jaebum bit his tongue to keep form responding with 'last night, Jinyoung' and turned to Youngjae with heat in his eyes.

"This better be worth my time, Choi." The general lit up like the glittering chandeliers in the ballroom, guiding both the King and his guard to the training grounds. "Your Highness?"

"I'm not going to miss a chance to see you beat up the rookies," Jinyoung explained. " _And_ , would you like to leave me by myself?"

Jaebum huffed, because  _no_ , he would  _not_ like to leave Jinyoung all alone.

When they reach the training grounds, all of the soldiers are sitting around, doing nothing in particular, and Jaebum fully understands why his help was enlisted. There were two soldiers, though barely men, sparring on the far end of the field; Jaebum made a mental note to talk to them later.

"Listen up you pieces of  _shit_!" Jaebum shouted, repressing a smirk at the sight of them all jumping in fear. "You did not enlist in this army to sit around and  _disrespect_ your  _general_. You enlisted to train, give blood, sweat, and tears, and be prepared to fight for your kingdom. Choi has been in this army significantly longer than any of you have, and for you to sit on your  _asses_ and chit chat as if you're better than him? No, that's unacceptable." His eyes landed on a young woman who wasn't paying attention to him, and he felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance. "You, what's your name?"

"Kalyn Smith."

"Alright, Smith, you're going to fight the general," Jaebum said, voice bored yet irritated.

"I expected you to give me more of a challenge, Sir," the solider said smugly.

"I'd shut your trap if I were you." Kalyn didn't seem bothered by his words, only standing up and grabbing a sparring sword from the rack. Jinyoung called to Youngjae before he could get too far, holding out his hand with a kind smile.

"I'll hold that for you," he offered, eyes locked onto the general's sword.

"Oh no no, Your Highness, I can just set it on the grass--"

"I know who gifted you that sword, Youngjae," Jinyoung said softly. "I'll hold it for you."

Jinyoung smiled softly when Youngjae bent in half with a bow, and he reached forward to grip the sheath tightly. Jaebum walked back over to the King, looking at the two soldiers getting ready for the duel. "The first one to disarm their opponent wins," Jinyoung called. "Three, two, one,  _begin_!"

"I hope Youngjae wins," Jaebum whispered over the sound of wood clacking together. "He deserves the respect."

"If he doesn't win he doesn't deserve the respect." Jaebum looked at Jinyoung with anger in his eyes, but Jinyoung simply arched a brow at him. "This entire battle is to prove that he's stronger than his soldiers think, so if he loses, what does that say?"

"I guess..." Jaebum muttered.  _He really isn't his father's son..._

"I'm not cruel, Jaebum; I don't want him to get hurt. I want him to prove his worth."

"I know, Your Highness. I know."

It was always a sore spot with Jinyoung, his own borderline-cold attitude. Everyone in the kingdom was used to the late King's unconditional kindness and having more money for non-essentials, but Jinyoung never agreed with the frivolous ways of his father. Forget an attack from their enemies, their own failing economy would be the thing to break them. Luckily enough he had the assistance of two other kingdom's to support him, Ignis, ruled by the Wang family, practically bordering him in the east and Mare, ruled by the Tuan family to the west. They're close allies of Jinyoung and his kingdom, and frankly the only reason they haven't gone completely under.

Jinyoung shook his head to clear his thoughts, doing his best to focus once more on the match in front of him. Youngjae was clearly calmer than his opponent, dodging swings and jabs left and right without even breaking a sweat. Kalyn was beginning to get a panicked look in her eyes, fumbling more and more as the fight dragged on. A sigh could be heard falling from the general's lips, planting his back foot in the ground and bringing down his sword on Kalyn's wrist with a quick flicking motion. She dropped her weapon with a cry and held her injured with her other hand, looking at Youngjae with fear.

"By God, where has  _this_ strength been?" she whispered, quite obviously to herself.

"I shouldn't have to  _fight you_ to be taken seriously, Smith," Youngjae explained, walking past Kalyn and placing his sword back on the rack. As the wooden weapon fell neatly into its slot, there was a round of applause  from the rest of the soldiers. He smiled meekly, heading back to Jinyoung and taking his sword back with a nod of gratitude.

Eventually Jaebum and Jinyoung made it to the garden, both men smiling at the pure peace and serenity being there together brought.

"Your Hi--"

"Jaebum, I am  _going_ to hit you," Jinyoung snapped. The guard smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

" _Jinyoung_ ," he corrected, "what are you going to do?"

"About my failing kingdom?"

"Ideally."

"Well," Jinyoung started, "I'm going to review all of the kingdom's bills, taxes, what our funds go to, all of it, and I'm going to fix what needs fixing."

"So, all of it?" Jaebum teased, but Jinyoung could only sigh in its truth.

"Precisely."

"Hey," Jaebum called, grabbing Jinyoung's wrist gently, but gently, "don't get discouraged. Yes, you're stubborn, but that means you won't rest until this kingdom  _is_ fixed. I believe in you, Jinyoung, and that means I'm going to stick with you until you achieve your dream."

It was stupid, so  _so_ stupid how Jinyoung's feet brought him over to Jaebum, how his arms wrapped themselves around Jaebum's armour-clad waist, how his head leaned perfectly into the junction of his shoulder and neck. It was  _stupid_ how Jaebum was just as quick to wrap his own arms around the King, because what if they were  _caught_? It was dangerous for Jinyoung's heart, too, because it felt as if any second longer spent in Jaebum's arms would make him fall so much harder.

Jinyoung didn't move out of Jaebum's embrace.


	3. Chapter 2

Jinyoung, to put it simply, wanted to burrow a hole in his head with the quill in his hand.

Motherfucking Jaebum Im was such a nice hugger and Jinyoung couldn't get the feeling of his arms around him out of his head--Excuse him. That was no language for a king. But his anger still stands, because there are bills in front of him, letters from his citizens, and he's busy having a crush on his  _guard_.

Priorities.

He was painfully aware of his guard's presence on the chair in the corner of the room. Jaebum had insisted that he was to stand next to the King, but a small _'Jaebum, I don't need you breathing down my neck'_ was enough to make him move away. Jinyoung allowed himself to steal a few glances at the figure of his thoughts, smiling to himself when he saw the elder curled up in the armchair reading one of Jinyoung's novels. It was worn from how many times it'd been flipped through and read, pages folded in the corners millions of times; the spine was wrinkled and almost cracking down the middle, but none of it seemed to bother Jaebum as he read it with genuine interest--

"Are going to keep starting, Jinyoung?" 

Feeling heat rush to his cheeks and his ears, Jinyoung spun back to face the paperwork on his desk. "Don't think of me as weird, Jaebummie; I just never see you do anything other than stand tall and brooding or have your hand your sword like you're going to pull it out at whoever looks at you weirdly." His guard huffed, but merely shifted in his seat and continued to read his-- _Jinyoung's_ book.

"Take a break, Jinyoungie; your eyes are going to fall out of your head if you keep this up any longer," Jaebum warned, voice soft as the fabric of the bed Jinyoung so desperately wanted to fall into.

"I can't. I need to get this evaluation done tonight."

"Do you, though?"

" _Yes_ ; I can't be the useless monarch my father was," Jinyoung stressed, running his hand through his hair that was in need of a wash.

"If you keep comparing yourself to what a dead mean  _didn't_ do, Jinnie, you're going to be stuck trying to best a dead man; does that sound like something you want to do with your life?"

"If it's what's going to be best for this kingdom--"

"What's best for this  _kingdom_ , Jinyoungie," Jaebum softly started, "is to not have it's last light of hope get snuffed out by stress."

Jinyoung sighed, because  _once again_ , Jaebum was correct. "What would I do if I fell in love, Jaebummie?"

A small choking noise came from his guard, who was obviously not prepared for such a question. "Well... assuming she was fit for the position of queen, you would marry her and be done with it." The King laughed bitterly, tossing his quill down onto his desk with a saddened smile.

"Yes, of course, what was I thinking; I'm going to marry a woman. I have to fall in love with a woman." A mild look of panic crossed Jaebum's face, eyes widening and lips struggling to form just the right words.

"Jinyoung?"

"I'm almost a criminal, you know that?" the King spat, glaring down at the papers on his desk until they almost caught fire under his gaze.

"Would you like to  _explain_?"

"I'm not in love with a woman," Jinyoung explained.

Furrowing his brows, Jaebum spoke again: "So then why would you ask me about--"

"Jaebum, you can wield a sword like no other man I know, but God above you are  _dense_. I'm not in love with a  _woman_."

Oh...

Oh.

_Oh._

"Forget it, Jaebum," Jinyoung muttered, hunching over his work fully and writing away with that quill of his.

"Jinyoung, you can talk to me." The king scoffed, shaking his head. "You  _can_ \--"

"As your  _King_ , I am ordering you to  _drop it_." He felt the air of the man behind him shift, turning cold and offended as Jaebum stood abruptly from his seat.

"Well then,  _Your Majesty_ , I will be standing outside your door," Jaebum hissed, throwing down the book he had once held so tenderly onto Jinyoung's desk.

The sound of the door closing was almost deafening, even if it wasn't slammed shut. Jinyoung was left falling against the back of his chair as he thought over what he just said; he'd never  _once_ pulled his rank on Jaebum to get him to do something in any sort of serious manner. The only time he ever pulled rank on his friend was when he was jesting with the man, whining for the elder to reach the book on the shelf for his King.

And it was crazy, how much  _more_ Jaebum was willing to do for his King. Yes, he was older, and when it came to Jinyoung's safety, Jaebum's words trumped his, but... there was just something  _to_ Jinyoung. The way he'll point out a stray cat to Jaebum because he knows his guard loves them dearly, or how he'll go down to the kitchen to strike up a conversation with the staff; sadly, those small moments were wearing thinner and thinner as Jinyoung slowly became hellbent on being the opposite of his father. He missed the days when Jinyoung would pull him away from his training to sneak away to the gardens, and suddenly Jaebum's mind was tumbling down into the thoughts of last night. The feeling of Jinyoung's warm body pressed against his chest, a small hum of contentment coming from Jinyoung.

He wondered if Jinyoung felt that same attraction that Jaebum did, wanted to hold Jaebum as much as the reverse were true. There was nothing they could do to be together, though, for there were laws of the kingdoms that would forbid it.

Sighing, Jaebum turned back around to face the door and grabbed the door handle. He opened the door, apology ready on his tongue, but the sight of Jinyoung stripping down the top half of his outfit froze his lips from forming the words.

"Stare any harder and there are going to be holes in my chest," Jinyoung softly mocked, still unsure just where they stood after what he'd said. Uncaring for the armour hugging his body, he circled his arms around Jinyoung and brought him closer. "You keep doing this and we're just going to have to stay joined at the hip--"

"Jinyoung,  _shut up_." 

The King did, in fact, keep his mouth closed as Jaebum tightened his arms before pulling away, blush sitting high and pretty on his defined cheeks. "I'm...  _sorry_ , 'Bummie..."

"You don't have to--"

"I do," the King pressed, "I  _really_ do." Jinyoung sat down on his bed, soft as clouds and smiling sheepishly up at Jaebum. "Take off your armour? I want you to sit with me, but that armour has  _seen some things_."

"Fuck you," Jaebum mumbled, more to himself than anything, but he still smiled to himself when he heard Jinyoung gasp in mock offense. "Jinyoung..."

"Hm?"

"I can't get it off by myself."

Rolling his eyes, Jinyoung stood up from his bed, graceful as a feline, and quickly undid the leather buckles and metal latches holding his armour together.

"How in God's name are you so good at this?"

"If I joked about doing this often--"

"I would have no choice but to tickle you until you pass out," Jaebum finished, glaring at his King with a mix of real and fake disgruntlement. Jinyoung nodded in understanding, shuffling back to allow Jaebum to shrug off the armour. He had to hold back a gasp as all of Jaebum's muscles came into view, the tight-fitting shirt doing little to nothing to hide the years of vigorous training he'd gone under.

"Come, 'Bummie, sit." Jaebum listened easily, sitting close enough to Jinyoung that their knees brushed. "So, my... lack of attraction to women. We're addressing this?"

"I would never make you do anything you don't want to, My King." 

Jinyoung stumbled over what he was going to say next, because there was something about 'My King' versus 'Your Majesty' that made Jinyoung feel... loved. Cared for. Why? He has  _no clue_. "I--You were the first person I wanted to tell, actually... I knew you would be the only one who wouldn't rat me out." Smiling softly down at his hands, which were placed in his lap, Jinyoung tilted his head to the side. "You were always fiercely loyal to me, whether or not your position demanded it."

"Did your father ever find out?"

"Oh, he did; it wasn't something explosive, though. He just told me I was going to find a wife, and that was final." Jaebum nodded sadly, feeling sadness weight down his heart for Jinyoung, "There's someone I'd much rather marry, though, even if I technically can't."

Choking on his own spit, Jaebum let out a meek: "who?"

Jinyoung leaning forward and pressing a firm kiss to his lips seemed to be his answer.


	4. Chapter 3

The feeling of Jinyoung's soft lips against his own made every single one of Jaebum's muscles lock up in shock. He laid there in surprise for a moment, but it seemed that was all it took for Jinyoung to deflate and begin to pull back with a small sigh. Panicking, the Guard's arms shot forward and encircled themselves around Jinyoung's waist and brought him closer to Jaebum. Even if Jaebum's heart was going a mile a minute in that moment, he had never felt more at peace in his life.

Being around Jinyoung had always been a struggle, no matter how willing Jaebum was to put himself in the situation; he'd always found the King to be much too gorgeous or kind-hearted, even if Jinyoung himself saw neither. It was torture, being forced to stand by Jinyoung's side everyday and watch over him with his full attention, but not be able to hold the King to his chest at the end of the day. Now, though, the dreams of pressing his nose to the top of Jinyoung's head as his mind calmed down from hours upon hours of fretting over the King seemed...  _real_. Attainable.

They eventually had to separate when the burning of their lungs became greater than the fire in their hearts, puffs of air ghosting across their noses and making them smile like children. Jaebum looked into Jinyoung's eyes, feeling his chest tighten at the pure  _happiness_ that resided there. He wanted to say something, tell Jinyoung that what they were doing was a mistake--a very  _illegal_ mistake--but then the King was kissing him again and all the worries melted away from his consciousness. 

It was no less desperate, the second kiss, but there was something about it that screamed  _home_ and  _comfort_ ; something more stable than the fierce passion of the kiss before it. Jinyoung's hands were cupping his jaw with a tenderness the King seemed to be terrified of showing the outside world. It wasn't something Jaebum could complain about, though, because the fact that it was something Jinyoung was willing to show  _him_ made it all the better.

But then there was a knock on the door and Jinyoung was throwing Jaebum off the bed.

" _Ow_ ," he hissed. Taking the angry look in Jinyoung's eyes as a sign to get moving, he thew his armour back on and waved the King back over to do it up for him.

"Your Majesty?" a voice called from the other side of the door. Jaebum looked over to the window and, shrugging and Jinyoung, threw himself over the windowsill and onto the balcony with a minimal thud.

"I'm going to  _kill him_ ," Jinyoung muttered to himself as he walked over to the door. He saw a guard waiting for him, looking sheepish and ready to bolt from the scene. "Yes?"

"Um... King Jackson and King Mark are waiting for you in the throne room," his counselor explained softly, peeking into Jinyoung's room. "Im isn't with you?" Flushing, Jinyoung coughed to cover up the small choking noise he made. 

"I sent him to fetch me a glass of water."

The counselor's brows drew together. "Don't you have  _servants_ for that--?"

"Is that all you came to tell me, counselor?"

Nodding, the petite man walked away with a bow, and Jinyoung was left to deflate against the door frame.

"You sent me to get you  _water_?" Jaebum teased, resting his chin on his forearms, which were placed on the windowsill.

" _Shut up_." The Guard rose his hands in surrender, but there was still a small smile dancing on his lips as he adjusted his armour.

"Did you summon Jackson and Mark here?"

"No..." Jinyoung mumbled, eyes going glassy with thought. "I hope whatever they're here for isn't going to worsen my situation."

Jaebum nodded in agreement, going ahead of the younger and holding the door open for him. They walked briskly to the throne room with energy zipping back and forth between them.

"You know we'll have to talk about it, right?"

"Outside of that room, Jaebum," Jinyoung started lowly, "I have no idea what you speak of."

Jaebum swallowed down the hurt that lodged itself in his throat, repeating to himself that this is what he signed up for when he pulled Jinyoung closer to him not even five minutes ago. Predictable, really, considering what the King was saying would be the thing to keep them from being thrown in prison, but that also didn't mean Jaebum had to  _like it_.

"My apologies, Your Majesty."

Perhaps he imagined it, but when the King looked back to him, there was an ounce of regret and guilt in his typically-hard eyes, but then not even a moment later he was turning his head forward once more and opening the doors to the throne room. Two heads immediately turned to him, and Jackson's face lit up like the chandeliers that decorated the ceiling when he saw the two men standing in the doorway.

"Jinnie!" he called, only to receive a jab to the stomach from the man beside him. 

"Jackson, have some decency, would you?"

"Tell yourself whatever you want; you wanted to do the same thing."

"At least I know how to have a filter."

"This is why you need me, Mark, because you're no fun--" Jinyoung gave a fake cough, bringing the attention of the other two kings back to him.

"Sorry, Jinyoung," Mark apologized. "I swear we're here for a reason."

"I really don't mind," Jinyoung said fondly, "but I'm going to go sit on my chair in case you two go at it again."

"'Chair', he says," Jackson scoffed, "when said chair is covered in green silk, emeralds, and  _gold_."

"Unless it's comfortable, Jackson, it's a chair. A fancy chair? Yes, but it's still a chair to me." Jackson looked over to Mark with a smirk tugging at his lips.

"We leave him alone for, what, two years? And he turns into  _this_ arrogant mess."

"I haven't been  _alone_ ," Jinyoung murmured, "I have Jaebum."

"That explains it all," Mark said seriously, even if his eyes twinkled with mirth.

"You know, I've actually grown quite tired of this incessant mockery--"

"No no," Jackson quickly amended, panic in his eyes. "Please stay." Caught off guard by his complete flip in attitude, Jinyoung quickly lowered himself back onto his throne. "So, as you know, we've never been able to establish a relationship with Ventus." 

Jinyoung nodded, placing his chin in his palm and covering his mouth with his fingers; Ventus, the kingdom in the north, was always stubborn about sharing their resources and rarely brought a representative to the continent's annual meetings. "I'm aware."

"Well, there's rumoured to be plans of attack on Mare, and then Ignis. We could only assume that it's to get at you; weaken your kingdom." Jinyoung felt his stomach flip and tie itself into knots, panic beginning to settle into his gut as he shifted in his throne.

"How did you come about this information, Jackson?"

"We've both had spies living in Ventus for years, now," Mark explained.

"And how can you be so sure that what they're saying is true? That they haven't been asked to work for Ventus?" The question didn't seem to faze either Jackson nor Mark, as the elder of the two nodded.

"We aren't, you're right, but we also wanted to let you know what we know."

"And..." Jackson said softly, "there's something else we wanted to talk to you about..." Jinyoung nodded in response, signalling Jackson to continue. "Well... as you know, there are things in all of our Kingdoms that are...  _forbidden_."

There was something in Jackson's eyes that made Jinyoung know exactly what he meant the moment he said it. "I do."

"And you know that Mark's kingdom and my kingdom are very close to bordering each other, and to get from one to the other you need to go through Silex to get to the other kingdom."

"What are you trying to propose, Jackson?" Jinyoung demanded, fear gnawing at his stomach.

"Just to build a bridge from one kingdom to the other, Jinyoung," Mark reasoned, sensing the irritability rolling off the the youngest.

"That's where a good portion of my citizens reside, gentlemen, why would you disturb them to build a bridge between your two kingdoms when they can just go through Silex?" The other two men shared a look.

"We're planning on making them...  _one_ kingdom." 

Jinyoung's world seemed to freeze in the most horrifying way, and it was nothing like how when Jaebum kissed him and he wanted the moment to last forever; no, he wanted this to be over  _ten minutes ago_.

"You must know what you're insinuating, Mark."

"I do, Jinyuong, but your father was making plans to change the laws; he came to us a few days before his assassination to talk to us about it--"

"No," Jinyoung interrupted. "My father is dead and you have no  _right_ to make up such things about him."

"We've never lied to you, Jinyoung, and we aren't about to start now." Jinyoung narrowed his eyes at Jackson with such a venom that Jaebum was starting to grow concerned for the two rulers in front of him. "Your father told us he wanted to make the world a better place for you to be yourself--"

"Oh? Is that why he told me I had to marry a woman, and that was that?"

"What would  _you_ have done, Jinnie?" Mark asked, eyes soft with something akin to understanding. "Your father did nothing but love you, so what would've been the best way to protect you from other people?"

Jinyoung pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting the tears threatening to escape from his eyes. "Pretend it didn't exist..."

"Precisely." Mark moved forward to Jinyoung, looking over to Jaebum to see if it was okay, and the Guard simply nodded. Kneeling in front of Jinyoung, Mark placed a hand on his knee to try and sooth the younger. "Your father loved you more than life, Jinnie."

"So, what, you two want to change the laws of the lang, build a bridge between Ignis and Mare, and get hitched?"

"Well when you put it like that, we sound like crazy people."

"You  _are_ crazy people," Jinyoung muttered. "And, what, you want me to change the law here too?"

"Wouldn't it benefit you and Bummie over here?"

"One," Jaebum glowered, "you don't get to call me that--"

"Oh, bu Jinyoung--"

" _Two_ ," the Guard spat, "just because you two are ready to sacrifice everything doesn't mean you get to come in here and talk about something that is still very punishable."

"The backlash you two would receive is unimaginable. You can't just turn the law around, one-eighty, and expect people to remain calm about it," Jinyoung reasoned, but there was something hopeful in his tone; something that told Jackson and Mark that he was on board. "But I'll leave that to you two; whatever you decide, I'll follow in your footsteps. However, I need to know that your bridge won't uproot any of my citizens."

"We'll draw up a plan and discuss it with you, Jinyoung," Mark finished with a small bow. Both kings turned around to walk out of the throne room, but Jinyoung called out to them before they could leave:

"You two should come by more often, you know, not just for potentially revolutionary changes to the continent!" Both Mark and Jackson grinned at him, giving various confirmations that they would indeed spend more time with Jinyoung as they left for their own homes.

"What do you think about the talk of Ventus?" Jaebuum asked suddenly, and Jinyoung didn't expect much else, since that was the much more important matter at hand.

A potential war.

"Well, I'm a little torn; on one hand, why would they risk bringing attention to themselves when they've been so self-dependent, but... maybe that's  _why_ they've been so silent."

Jaebum looked at him out of the corner of his eye, eyebrow arched. "Pardon?"

"Think about it; if we get destroyed it's absolutely no skin off their backs. They have no ties with us, if we plummet, it's just free land for them to rampage through and  _take_." It was a silent for a moment, the quietness ringing through the room louder than any bell perched on top of a chapel. "We couldn't survive a war, Jaebum, we aren't stable enough for that."

"Our army is the best in the continent, Your Majesty," Jaebum explained softly.

"And how do we know Ventus' isn't ten-times stronger?" Jinyoung snapped, looking up at Jaebum with desperation in his eyes. "They're silent, Jaebummie, and that means they're  _lethal_."

"Then we just have to be the best we can be." The king furrowed his brows again, ready to talk again before Jaebum cut him off. "You said you wanted to improve your kingdom, so do it. Go into the town, figure out what they're missing and how they're coping. Figure out of the schools are running out of supplies and if that money is going straight to a gentlemen's club. Figure out of agriculture is struggling because luxury shops are being over-funded."

"You're making it sound  _easy_ ," Jinyoung said softly, slouching in his throne.

"And I know it isn't, but Jinyoung, if a war is coming, we can't sit on our hands." A hand landed on the King's shoulder, squeezing in reassurance. "You can do it, Jinnie."  Jinyoung sighed, but it was less resigned this time, instead filled with resolution.

If there were to be a war, Jinyoung wouldn't let his Kingdom fall.


	5. Chapter 4

“No.”

“What do you mean, ’ _no_ ’?”

“I don’t need three guards with me in the city.”

“Boo hoo, I say you do.”

“ _Jaebum_ –”

“I’m taking two soldiers with us and that is  _final_ , Jinyoung.”

Jinyoung spun around on his heel to face his Guard, fiery defiance in his dark orbs. “I’m not a  _child_.”

“But you’re extremely valuable to this kingdom and myself, and for me to let you go out into the city without more protection when there are rumoured threats on your life is unacceptable,” Jaebum reasoned as he crossed his arms. “Jinyoung if what Mark and Jackson said is true, and there is a potential threat to your life, you better damn-well expect me to stop it.”

“We don’t even know if they’re  _true_ ,” Jinyoung huffed.

“Surprisingly, I don’t care.” Jaebum didn’t allow Jinyoung to protest any further as they made their way to the training grounds.

“You’re not my father, Jaebum.” The Guard didn’t even miss a beat as he grabbed Jinyoung’s hand and dragged him along faster.

“And thank God for that, because otherwise I’d be six feet under with an arrow piercing my heart.” Jaebum looked briefly back towards Jinyoung, sighing to himself. “Sometimes it feels as if you’d prefer me that way.”

Jinyoung had never let out a noise so offended.

“Jaebum Im, so help me God, if you let something let that slip even  _once more_  I will personally take the liberty of making sure your testicles disappear.” The King had tears in his eyes as he tugged Jaebum back towards him, hugging him so fiercely the elder was afraid his armour would dent. “Don’t you  _ever_ disregard yourself like that. If you died, Jaebum, a piece of me would go with you.” Jinyoung looked up, heart-stopping sorrow in his dark eyes. “No, my entire heart would go with you. My soul would dim and I would never feel the need to leave my chambers because I was in so much pain.”

Their position was dangerous, with Jinyoung pressing his face into Jaebum’s neck with a newfound desperation, but neither of them really wanted to move.

“We’re going to get caught one day, you know, hugging randomly on teh castle grounds,” Jaebum teased, attempting to rid the air of the dread that filled it. Jinyoung seemed to agree with him, pulling away from his Guard as he wiped away his tears.

“I love you, Jaebum,” Jinyoung whispered, “so much more than I’ll ever be able to express.”

The Guard quickly scanned his surroundings before gently taking Jinyoung’s hand in his. He pressed a kiss to the soft skin of the back of Jinyoung’s hand, actions screaming the words he couldn’t bring himself to say.

They finally made it to the training grounds when the sun was at it’s highest point, and the soldiers were taking a small break to eat something.

“Choi!” Jaebum hollered, easily grabbing the attention of the General.

“Mr. Im, Sir.”

“I need two of your soldiers.” Youngjae raised an eyebrow at the Guard, looking out onto the crowd of soldiers.

“Well I mean you can pick–”

“I know which two I want, I just don’t know their names.”

“Alright, what do they look like?”

“One’s a toothpick and the other is tall as fuck, that’s all I got for you.”

A small smirk tugged at Youngjae’s lips, recognition lighting up his eyes. “Kim! BamBam!”

“’ _BamBam_ ’?” Jinyoung muttered. He sounded just as lost and confused as Jaebum felt.

“This is Kim Yugyeom,” Youngjae explained, gesturing to the taller of the two soldiers, “and this is BamBam.” ‘BamBam’ had bright red hair, and Jaebum had so many questions for him.

“Yeah, that’s them.” Jaebum waved the soldiers over, so Youngjae took that as a sign to go back to oversee his soldiers. “His Majesty and I are heading into the city today, and you two are required to come with us.” Jinyoung bit his tongue, because no, they weren’t required to accompany them, but the last thing he wanted to do was undermine Jaebum’s authority in front of other people, so he kept his lips shut.

The two men–though they really looked liked  _boys_ –were immediately bowing to Jinyoung, who nodded in appreciation and announced that they should be on their way if they wanted to get anything done.

o.O.o

“I don’t even know where to start…” Jinyoung whispered. Only he himself was supposed to hear it, but it seems Yugyeom picked up on his lost tone.

“If it makes anything easier, Your Highness, my little brother has had some interesting stories about his school; you should check there first?”

“It’s quite bold of you to assume you can instruct me, boy,” Jinyoung snapped, even if he was already walking towards the school.

“Don’t want me commenting on your struggles? Don’t speak of them out loud.” Yugyeom was wearing a smirk, and  _oh_ , how Jinyoung wanted to smack it off his relatively charming face.

What? He’s pointing out facts.

People stared in awe as the King passed them by in the streets, having never truly seen him after his coronation. The school was just this side of underwhelming, brick walls chipped and door’s pain worn down and scratched.

“The headmistress of this school gets eighteen-thousand dollars a year to fund this place, and this is what it looks like?” Jinyoung glowered; he had some choice words for this woman.

Jinyoung’s whole air seemed to change as he shifted from sour, but still kind adult to the cold Ruler of Silex. Jaebum was ready for said change, but their two younger guards seemed to be more on edge because of his new demeanour. Jinyoung navigated his way through the halls easily, resulting in even Jaebum to walk faster than normal to keep up.

“Miss Lockheart!” the King called, tone lacking any emotion other than  _unimpressed_. “I think I have to have a word with you about your funds.” He was quite sickened to see how well-dressed the headmistress was, only a couple of her fingers bare of rings. “Ah, so  _this_ is where the citizens’ money goes, adding to your accessory collection.”

The woman was clearly off-put by the King’s accusations, as she ended up stammering up some excuse that Jinyoung was in no mood to hear. “Your Majesty–”

“How much of their money is  _left_ for the year, Miss Lockheart?”

“Roughly… five thousand?” The King cursed to himself, because this place was supposed to make it through another eleven months on that? Silex was prided on their education, and his father overlooked this void of the citizens’ money? It would take so long to get it back to the way it used to be–

“As of this moment, Miss Lockheart, you are relieved from your position as headmistress. You’ll be receiving funds from the Kingdom no longer.” Yugyeom and BamBam led the woman off the premises, and in her absence, Jinyoung took a seat in her old office chair. “ _Eighteen-thousand dollars_ , and it all went to making her look like a cheap  _whore_ –”

“ _Hey_ ,” Jaebum snapped, glaring down at Jinyoung. “You’re better than that, My King.”

“Quite obviously not, because the atrocious taxes on our goods didn’t make me confront my father and ask what the ever-loving shit was going on.”

“And even if you did, he obviously was in no way inclined to listen to you.” Jaebum walked over to his King, getting down on one knee and looking up into Jinyoung’s crestfallen eyes. “Jinyoung, we’ve been over this, I love you more than words, but I can’t let you pity yourself like this all the time. It’s getting in the way of your true potential as King.”

“But–”

“Shut up, Jinyoung,” Jaebum interrupted, and Jinyoung didn’t think he’d ever heard those words said so… fondly.

On the other side of the doorway, there were two young soldiers, worried beyond belief at just what their King and his Guard were getting up to.


	6. Chapter 5

Yugyeom was pacing back and forth in their soldier’s quarters, panic beginning to well up in his chest.

“’Gyeom, calm down, they know the laws, they’re not  _stupid_.”

“Didn’t you see how they were  _looking at each other_?” Yugyeom asked frantically. “I haven’t seen you look at a pair of boots in the shop like that!”

“I’m a man that loves my fashion,” BamBam muttered, “not a man who deserves your critique.”

“Oh my God– _you get my point_ ,” Yugyeom stressed. “I really look up to those two; I don’t want them thrown in jail.”

“Then stop poking your nose where it doesn’t belong.” BamBam raised a brow at the younger. “You’d want them to extend you that courtesy, no?”

“We’re not out and about looking like we’re in love,” Yugyeom pressed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yes, but we  _are_ in love _,_  so we have just as much, if not less, to lose than they do. They’re authority figures in this kingdom, so they have so much more to lose than their freedom.”

Realistically, Yugyeom knew his boyfriend was right, but there was still something gnawing at the back of his mind about how he should pull Jinyoung and Jaebum aside to ask them just what the ever-loving fuck they were doing.

Except each other, but that’s besides the point.

“Yugyeom, listen.” Yugyeom relaxed his shoulders and looked into BamBam’s eyes as he rose from the uncomfortable bed. “Jinyoung and Jaebum have done a lot for Youngjae, and Youngjae has done a lot for us; I think we owe it to them to make this as easy as possible on them?”

“I hate that you  _make sense_  sometimes.” BamBam smiled brightly, pressing a small kiss to Yugyeom’s lips before making his way back to his bed.

o.O.o

Two months passed since Jinyoung finally made the changes he’d been planning to, and needless to say the shallow were upset with his changes. The people who were receiving money they didn’t work for or  _deserve_  daunted to walk into the throne room as if they owned the place. They went on and on about how their children were going to starve if they didn’t get their regular income.

Needless to say Jinyoung had them escorted out of the castle with a few choice words form the King. But there was  _one citizen_ , absolutely hellbent on getting the money he worked zero hours for.

“Your father would have never given me this hard of a time,” he shouted, something crazed in his eyes.

Jinyoung wanted to launch himself at the man and choke him out, but such would be frowned upon in his position as King, so he simply glared venom at the middle-aged man. “My  _father_  was naive to think there was nothing wrong with his system.” He gave the man a once-over, shaking his head in disbelief. “Luckily enough for me, you’re a perfect example of the people I’m trying to weed out.”

“I’d watch your back,  _Your Highness_ ,” the man spat, “because I’m not sure you’ll live long enough to regret this.” 

There was the distinct grating of metal to JInyoung’s left. Before he could tell Jaebum to freeze and stop, his Guard was already in front of the man and aiming his sword at his throat.

“I will  _kill you_  if you threaten His Majesty like that again. I’ll have no regrets about it. I won’t be sent to jail for keeping him safe.”

It was almost mad, how the man’s expression didn’t change in any way; stayed smug.

“I’m sure you’ll be needing to protect His Majesty a lot more from now on.” He turned around, pretending that he didn’t notice two pairs of eyes on him. “I”ll see myself out, yes?”

The doors closed behind him, and Jaebum was left practically quaking in his spot.

“If he lays a  _hand on you_ –”

“You’ll be right there to cut if off,” Jinyoung whispered, standing up from his throne. “You’re good at your job, Jaebum, no matter how much I bitch about it; you’ll be able to protect me.”

“What if I can’t…?” It was so rare to see Jaebum cry, because even if Jaebum was the one to get more overwhelmed, he rarely showed it so blatantly.

“If I don’t get to doubt my skills as king, you don’t get to doubt your skills as my Guard.” 

The doors opened once more, revealing the Queen Mother, who looked more drained than Jinyoung had ever seen her. She had a velvet cloak wrapped around her form, hood down.

“Mother?”

She didn’t respond, only locking eyes with her son.

“Queen Mother?” Jaebum tried.

“I know what you two get up to,” she explained, looking sadly down at the marble floors.

Immediately the two men went into a panic, trying to figure out just what was going to happen in the next few minutes. Jinyoung didn’t take his eyes off of his mother, but Jaebum found his eyes flicking between both the King and his mother.

“Mother…” Jinyoung called out, with a voice soft with trepidation. 

“I can’t allow myself to be apart of this family and break the laws your father enforced,” she continued, reaching into her cloak. “Your job is to protect my son, Im. You better be doing that now.”

“Mother,” Jinyoung repeated as his eyes became focused on the gleam of metal in his mother’s hand, “what are you  _doing_?”

“Jaebum is not incompetent, Jinyoung, his instincts will always to be to protect you from harm.” And it was  _true_ , they supposed, but it didn’t make their situation any less confusing or concerning.

“If I’m a threat to the King’s life, Jaebum has to act accordingly.” She seemed to be finished explaining herself after that, gripping the knife in her hand tighter and slicing at Jinyoung’s throat.

Jaebum’s sword was embedded in her chest before anyone could breathe.

True to his mother’s words, his instincts kept Jinyoung safe, but that didn’t make Jaebum any less horrified with the scene before him. He pulled the sword back out of her chest without really thinking, feeling sick to his stomach as he watched Jinyoung’s mother bleed out onto the pristine white floors.

“MOTHER!” Jinyoung screamed, closing the distance between him and his mother, who’s emerald dress was slowly turning brown with the crimson blood seeping from her wound.

“I couldn’t live with myself, Jinnie, keeping that secret for you,” she said. She brought up a hand to weakly cup Jinyoung’s jaw, tears gathering in her eyes. “I hope he makes you happy, Jinyoung, even if I’ll never understand…” The Queen Mother became too weak to hold her hand up, letting it drop onto her stomach. “I didn’t want to leave you like this, Jinyoung…”

“So why  _did you_?” he asked miserably, even if he was barely able to enunciate his words.

“I respect your father, no matter how long he’s been dead. I can’t betray his laws… But I’m also… your mother… and that means… that I have to do my best… to make your life… the best… I…” She stopped talking after that, eyes going glossy as she bled out beyond repair.

Jinyoung was completely oblivious to the guards rushing in, but when he heard Jaebum trying to defend himself against the Palace Guards, he snapped out of his trance.

“Don’t touch him,” he muttered, just loud enough for everyone in the room to halt their movements. “The only reason  _I’m_ not the one bleeding out is Jaebum.” He looked into the eyes of one of the guard from behind his bangs, darkness Jaebum had rarely seen rearing it’s head. “Un _hand him_.”

Jaebum was given a glare before being shoved back over to Jinyoung. “What the hell happened?” one guard demanded.

“The Queen Mother made an attempt on my life.”

o.O.o

She wasn’t allowed a proper funeral that most monarchs get, if only because of her high treason, but Jinyoung wasn’t even allowed to know where she was buried to go and visit her.

He had a sinking feeling they burned her to ask instead.

“Jinyoung you haven’t left your room in days–”

“And it will  _stay that way_.” Jinyoung pulled the covers around his shoulder tightly. “Go away, Jaebum.”

“Jackson and Mark sent letters for you.”

“I don’t want them.”

“Do you blame me, My King?” Jaebum’s tone took on more of a soft, wounded tone than before and if Jinyoung didn’t know any better he would be certain that Jaebum was in tears.

He knew this couldn’t go on much longer, no matter how much he wanted to spend the rest of his life cooped up in his room. He opened the door, staring into Jaebum’s eyes. He sighed as he stepped aside and let Jaebum further into his room.


	7. Chapter 6

The wealthier citizens of Silex were none too pleased about the King’s reduction of their funds. Jinyoung, of course, gave no shits, and told them as much. People were rioting outside of the castle at an almost constant rate, but the King busied himself with other things.

Most prominently, replaying his mother’s death in his head like a broken projector.

He really didn’t see why she would take her love for his father to the extreme; yes, Jinyoung supposed keeping an illegal secret would weigh down on someone’s conscience, but to coerce Jaebum into killing her? It was too much. He seemed more remorseful than Jaebum did, because  _she was about to kill you, Jinyoungie, and I can’t allow that_. He wondered if what he had with Jaebum was worth his mother’s life, if it was worth all of the trials they’d have to face in order to be together.

So, he confronted Jaebum about it.

“Do you  _want_  to end this?” the Guard asked, no emotion in his eyes. Jinyoung had called him into his room, deciding to look at his fingernails instead of Jaebum.

“I just saw my mother die for this.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“That’s my answer,” Jinyoung said softly. “I don’t know that this is worth it.”

“Then you end it.” Jaebum had more of a heartbroken shine in his eyes then, his body language radiating frustration. “If you  _truly_  feel that the love I have for you is not worth all of this,  _you_  end it.”

“Please don’t make me, Jaebummie–”

“I’m most certainly not going to do it!” the Guard shouted, not caring in the slightest about the possibility of being heard. “Because I  _don’t_  want it to end!” He let out a frustrated breath. “But if it’s what you want,  _Your Highness_ ,” Jaebum spat, “then I cannot stop you.”

“It’s not what I want!” Jinyoung cried as sadness began to claw at his heart.

“Then why even bring it up!?”

“Because it might just be what  _needs_ to be done.”

“So then tell me, Jinyoung; are we done?”

Jinyoung wanted so badly to say no, to let his tears out and apologize for even mentioning such a thing, but he found himself agreeing before he could think to stop himself; “Yes, I suppose we are.”

Jaebum could only laugh bitterly, shaking his head as she turned around. “Loving people ins’t a weakness, Jinyoung, and neither is fighting for that love.” With those words resonating in Jinyoung’s mind, Jaebum closed the door behind him as he left the King’s room.

_I’m an_ idiot _, aren’t I?_

* * *

Jaebum wanted to fight somebody. Who did he go to when he wanted to fight somebody? Well, usually Jinyoung, but that option was clearly crossed out, so Jaebum sought out Youngjae.

“Sir,” the General called as soon as he saw Jaebum.

“Just… just Jaebum, Youngjae. I’m not here as the King’s Guard.”

“With all due respect, Jaebum, that’s not really a job you can clock out of.”

“He’ll be fine. I’ve trained with him for countless hours in case we get separated from each other outside of the castle.”

Youngjae seemed sated with that explanation, so he began to ask for another; “What brings you here, then?”

“I need some space from… people.” Youngjae arched one of his brows.

“You mean Jinyoung.” Jaebum looked ready to protest, but the General easily cut him off. “When you don’t want people as a whole interacting with you, you hide away in the archives.”

Jaebum, to put it simply, was taken aback by the fact that Youngjae knew that. “How…?” he started, only to trail off.

“I notice things like that,” Youngjae explained sheepishly. “It’s not the first time you and Jinyoung have had a spat.”

“Yes, well, this was the king of all spats.”

“Care to explain it to me while we have a friendly sparring match?” 

The Guard liked that idea, smiling gratefully as Youngjae handed him a wooden sword. There was barely a moment for Jaebum to call out a “are you ready” before Youngjae was lunging at him with a great strength.

“Well aren’t you an eager beaver?”

“You wanted to spar, ‘Bummie, so reap the benefits of your request; actually put some effort in, no?” As soon as he finished speaking, the General was swiping his sword at Jaebum’s throat. The motion woke something playful,  _impish_ , in Jaebum, as he smirked flicked his wrist. The small movement was enough to knock Youngjae’s sword away from Jaebum, and the elder swung his leg around, knocking Youngjae right onto the ground.

“You know, I like it when you call me ‘Bummie; you should do it more of _ten_!” Yeah, Jaebum wasn’t expecting Youngjae to pull him forward with the blade of his sword, effectively making the Guard land on top of him with a small  _oomf!_  Before Jaebum could get back up, Youngjae was flipping them over and straddling the older with a bright smile.

“And I like it when I win, so we should do that more often.” Jaebum huffed petulantly, trying to wriggle out of Youngjae’s grip, but it seemed like the General was more than content to stay right where he was.

“What the fuck are you so strong for?”

“I’m not the Army General for nothing, Jaebum,” Youngjae teased. The quiet of the night filled the space, but as Youngjae’s eyes trailed down form Jaebum’s eyes to his lips, there was a small simmering that began to replace that stillness.

“We haven’t talked in a while, ‘Jae, I want to catch up.” It was a weak excuse, but Youngjae didn’t seem hurt at all by his cowardice.

“That sounds nice,” Youngjae amended, getting off of Jaebum gracefully and pulling the Guard up with a small pull. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well…” Jaebum looked to Youngjae with a hesitant curiosity. “You’ve never actually told me about your childhood; how you ended up here.”

“I haven’t?” His tone wasn’t malicious or sarcastic, and Jaebum was shocked about how open he was about himself; maybe Jaebum and Jinyoung could take a page out of that book. “Well, I never knew my parents, and the woman who was a chef here took me in. She was pretty old so by the time I figured out she wasn’t my mother, I didn’t get to ask how she came upon me. I’m sure you and Jinyoung have an idea about the rest…” Youngjae flushed when he saw how attentive Jaebum was being to him, so the next part of his story came tumbling from his lips: “You were actually the reason I started training in the army. You looked so determined and focused and  _loyal_  that my heart just–” The general slapped a hand over his mouth, lest anything else be said.

“‘Jae,” the Guard called, voice barely disrupting the soft atmosphere as he placed a hand over top of the one Youngjae had on the ground. “I won’t mind what you say next, trust me.”

“ _I’ll mind_ , though…” Youngjae murmured.

“You don’t have to tell me anything, if you don’t want to,” Jaebum explains, tightening his grip on Youngjae’s–lovely and amazingly–smaller hand, “but just know that there’s nothing you could say that would lessen my respect for you.”

Youngjae still took a moment, to ask himself if he wanted to do this or if he wanted to expose this part of himself, but Jaebum was  _still_  looking at him with those adorably soft eyes and he just–

“I think I fell in love with you.”

And Jaebum–sweet, loving,  _unreal_  Jaebum–smiles and brings the General closer to him in a hug. He smelled of leather and tea and something  _warm_  that Youngjae couldn’t place, but he wasn’t too concerned with that when he had the man of his dreams hugging him.

“Youngjae,” the Guard whispered, “knowing that I have any of your attention is an honour; you don’t give yourself enough credit for how amazing of a person you are.”

“You… you mean that?”

“I don’t lie, Youngjae, especially not to you.” Youngjae sighed happily, turning his face to fully press his forehead into Jaebum’s neck.

“I want to meet my parents… Is that weird?”

“Why would it be weird?”

“Because I’ve never heard anything about them and for all I know they could be crazy ax murderers.”

Jaebum let out a golden little sound of a laugh, shaking his hand fondly as he kept Youngjae in place–right in his arms and  _wow_ , Youngjae is about to squeal like a little girl. “I love how that’s the first thing you come up with, Youngjae. But no, it isn’t weird; you want that little piece of your life so many other people get. Just know, though, that if they do turn out to be killers–”

“Crazy ax murderers–”

“Then you’ll have a family right here waiting for you with open arms.”

Youngjae smiled softly to himself. “Can I ask for one more favour?”

“Anything.”

“Can I have one small kiss? On my nose?”

Jaebum gave that same small laugh, pushing Youngjae back by his shoulders. “You’re  _cute_ , you know that?”

“I’m fucking  _adorable_ , and as such, it is a crime to withhold my nose kisses from me.” Jaebum grinned like a madman, leaning down and pressing the softest of kisses to the tip of Youngjae’s nose.

If he knew that he was in the perfect spot to be seen from Jinyoung’s window,  _by Jinyoung_ , he wouldn’t have been so quick to agree to the small display of affection.


	8. Chapter 7

“So you’re just going around kissing men now?”

Jaebum choked a little on his cup of tea, looking over the edge of his book to lock eyes with the king. “What the fuck?”

“No really, I’m serious; Youngjae’s cute, very reliable.”

The Guard laughed sarcastically. “You’re making it sound like I wanted to leave you, Jinyoung.” Jaebum set both his beverage and book down before he crossed his arms and legs. “In fact, it seems like you’re trying to get the guilt off your shoulders by trying to make  _me_  feel bad.”

“Don’t quit your day job, Jaebum, because you’d make a sucky therapist.”

“Oh, the language you use is so  _befitting_  of a King.”

Jinyoung rolled his eyes, resuming his paperwork. “Why are you even here?”

“Because the day job that I  _do_  have is making sure you stay in one piece,” Jaebum sneered. “What’s your problem, anyway? You were so certain that what you were doing was right when we split up, so why are you acting like a  _dick_  about it?”

“I don’t know how one would pretend to be such a phallic part of the male anatomy, Im, since that’s not very befitting of a King.” The air in the room was tense and almost toxic, neither man willing to back down and amend.

“Do you think what you did was  _right_ , Jinyoung? Is this worth it for you?”

“I have no idea the action of which you speak.”

Jaebum let out an angry huff laced with a growl as he walked over to the King, plucking the pen from his hands. “Get your head out of your ass, Jinyoung.” He was but a breath away from Jinyoung, jaw tight and fist clenched.

“Last I checked, you  _adored_  this ass,” Jinyoung spat, snatching back his pen.

A knock rang from the door, causing both men to turn their heads towards the sound. “Your Highness. King Mark and King Jackson are here to see you.” 

Jaebum stepped away from the King to allow him to stand up. “We aren’t done talking, you know.”

“I didn’t realize we were doing anything other than bickering like children, Im.” Jinyoung didn’t say anything else as they walked out of his room. The Guard couldn’t help but wonder how their relationship had gone to hell so fast; not even a week ago they were sneaking away to gardens to look at the stars from behind walls of flowers and vines. Now they were firing insults at each other as if they had no clue what love felt like.

They arrived in the throne room not a moment later. Jackson and Mark turned to them as the doors opened, but unlike last time, there were no smiles on their lips or twinkling in their eyes.

“Jinyoung,” Mark greeted, “sit. We have some things to discuss with you.”

Jinyoung shifted a little, nervous as he looked at Jackson’s blank face. He sat on his throne and crossed his leg over the other as he placed his chin in his palm. The other two kings shared a look, apprehensive and almost jittery.

“We’re uniting Mare and Ignis.” 

Both Jaebum and Jinyoung straightened in their spots immediately. “You’re  _what_?”

“We’re making them one Kingdom, Jinyoung, under the ruling of both Mark and I,” Jackson explained, he shifted closer to the elder, looking at him meaningfully before he faced Jinyoung once more. “Together.”

“You’re both letting your emotions get the better of you–”

“Don’t even with me, Jinyoung,” Mark glowered. “We’re already going to have enough people opposing the decision, we don’t need our long-time friend opposing it as well.”

“Love can blind you, Mark. Sometimes following your heart will do nothing but ruin the things you’ve tried to build up.” Mark and Jackson shared a look once more, but Jinyoung was adamant on getting his point across. “Are you two seriously willing to throw away everything you’ve worked for in order to allow your love to be public?”

“Are you willing to let your own life suffer because you  _won’t_?”

Jinyoung inhaled sharply as he glared Jackson down. “I’d watch your  _tongue_.”

“Are you seriously going to sit on your throne and pretend it isn’t obvious what’s going on with you two? You’ve barely acknowledged each other since you’ve gotten in here; hell, you just  _haven’t_.”

Jinyoung huffed and looked away, anger etching itself onto his features.

“What is even going  _on_  with you two–?”

“King Mark,” Jaebum interrupted, sensing Jinyoung was about two seconds away for lashing out, “I’m afraid I’m going to have to as you diverge from the line of questioning.”

The air was tense for a moment, Mark’s eyes fixed on Jinyoung where the younger insisted on looking anywhere but the people in front of him, but then the youngest of the quartet was speaking up.

“I’ll notify my citizens they’ll have to adjust to the change… I’ll sign over the piece of land you need to connect your two kingdoms.” Neither of the men in front of Jinyoung were expecting the answer. “Now get out before I change my mind.”

o.O.o

Tomorrow would be the day; the laws would change and Mare and Ignis would unite. It was months ago that Jackson and Mark waltzed into his castle informing him of their decision, and if he was being honest, agreeing with their plan was a great decision. The citizens he had to move had no farms or anything tying them down to the land, as most of the rich soil was in the southern region of Silex. The younger generation was ecstatic about the change, standing atop fountains and statues to call out the arrival of a new era.

And Jinyoung supposed that was true, that changing the laws of marriage would divide his people just as it brought them together, but he thought of how happy his friends were together, and his mind was set.

All three rulers would meet where their lands met, gathering their citizens all around them as they passed the bill that would change the continent forever.

“I see you’re all trying to ruin our great land, hm?” Jinyoung turned around, hand stopped in the middle of signing on his part of the parchment, staring down the ruler of Ventus.

Queen Lynn was a force to be reckoned with; she never joined the rest of the continent for their annual meetings, never showed any sign of caring for the other three Kingdom’s surrounding hers.

“Your Highness,” Jackson spat, staring into the Queen’s eyes with a prominent disdain. “What brings you here?”

“A little birdie told me just what you were planning to do to the laws of your kingdoms,” she explained as she gestured for her guards to move forward. “And sadly, I don’t think I can let you do such a thing.”

Before Jinyoung could let loose the insult on his tongue, he was staring down a nocked arrow.

“It would be poetic that you died just as your father did, wouldn’t it, Jinyoung?”

Jinyoung closed his eyes before he could see how his life came to an end…


	9. Chapter 8

_If you asked young Crown Prince Jinyoung what he loved the absolute most in the world, he would say writing stories. That, and his mother’s hugs, but he would never tell anyone that._

_He snuck off to the garden in order for a place to write peacefully, pen and parchment in hand. He found solace in the peace that came from sitting under an old tree, or next to a bed of the most beautiful lilacs. The words flowed out from his hand and onto the paper in front of him, depicting both the beauty of the trees and the leaves, as well as the heartbreak that rained down when they withered away into nothingness._

_But then one day, on his way to find a new spot for inspiration, he saw a young soldier training on the castle grounds._

_Jinyoung tried his best to snuff the heat building in his heart whenever he saw that boy, but he couldn’t help it. Soon enough, Jinyoung’s poems weren’t focused as much on the scenery around him, the glistening and glittering of the leaves that held freshly fallen rain, but the fluttering of his heart whenever he did see the soldier. It shifted from the stark beauty of a rose in the midst of lilacs to the contrast of the beauty marks sitting above his left eye. He was a child, only eleven, but he was mature enough to know that there was_ something _about the Tiny Soldier that made his heart happy._

_Over the next five years, Jinyoung made no plans to confront Tiny Soldier and befriend him, let alone tell him how he felt, but it seemed nothing was meant to go his way. Jinyoung tripped over his own feet in an attempt to quickly flee from the training grounds. The sound of him colliding with the ground, along with his small ‘oomph’, caught Tiny Soldier’s attention._

_“Your Highness,” he called, “what brings you here?”_

_“N-nothing!” Jinyoung replied, immediately righting himself; making himself seem like an actual prince and not a boy with dreams of being writer. “What’s your name? I’ve been calling you Tiny Solider in my head.”_

_Tiny Soldier seemed to appreciate the comment, chuckling as he crossed his arms and smiled at the Prince. “Jaebum Im, Your Highness.”_

_“I’m Jinyoung.” Jaebum raised a brow, even though his smile stayed on his lips. “But… you… knew that, of course.”_

_And the rest was history. Jaebum began to show Jinyoung more and more sword tricks–in secret, of course, for royals taking up combat was extremely frowned upon–up until the point where Jinyoung was able to knock the solider right on his ass._

_Then came the announcement that Jaebum would become thing King’s Guard upon the day of Jinyoung’s coronation, and Jinyoung had never heard news that made him so happy in his entire life._

_He sat them both on the bed, taking the elder’s hands in his and looking into Jaebum’s eyes with the passion that seemed to be there his whole life. “We’re going to be spending a lot of time together after I become King, and that means we have to make sure our friendship stays strong.” Jinyoung dropped his friend`s hand, leaning over him to retrieve something from his nightstand. When he was back in his place, he held out two necklaces. “I went down to the blacksmith the other day and had these made for you and I,” he explained. His expression was soft, almost bashful as he handed over the necklace. It was a small, titanium crown on a steal chain, somewhere between bulky and dainty. The one Jinyoung was holding was a sword, though gold plated as it seemed no less sturdy than Jaebum’s own._

_“You made us friendship necklaces?” Jaebum lilted. “That has to be the cutest shit I’ve seen in my life.”_

_“Watch your mouth in front of your future king, Im.” Jinyoung, of course, meant nothing by that; hell, he had an even worse mouth than Jaebum on most days._

_Without hesitation, Jaebum slipped the necklace over his head. It felt good as it hung form his neck, because it reminded him of Jinyoung. It reminded him of_ good _and_ pure _and_ happy _, even though Jinyoung himself was snarky and teasing._

_And it was moments like those, moments where it was just the two of them in such a big world with so many people that were good, bad, and everything in between, that they realized they would always have to be there for each other, no matter what._

o.O.o

There was a loud  _clang_  as the metal of the arrow head collided with Jaebum’s sword, but Jinyoung immediately felt so much safer than he did two seconds ago. “Queen Lynn, you just made an attempt on His Majesty’s life; if you wish to surrender, there may sill be a chance you won’t be faced with teh death penalty–”

“Save me your speech, boy.” Jaebum didn’t step forward in fear of having Jinyoung even more exposed than he already was, but his eyes grew even darker. Before he could signal the other soldiers to attack, however, the Queen was gone in a puff of smoke.

An eerie silence fell over the crowd. “Did she just…  _use magic_?”

“That hasn’t been practiced in  _centuries_ ,” Mark whispered.

Jackson crossed his arms angrily. “Is it something any of us can try her for?”

“Sadly, no,” Jinyoung murmured, refusing to leave his spot from behind Jaebum. “The laws against it continent-wide were abolished a few decades ago, before our time, but even when the laws  _were_  over, there were barely any people that practiced magic to be left in the spotlight.”

“Well she still made an attempt on your life, we can punish her for that.”

“Not if we can’t get close to her without being blasted into oblivion. We don’t know what her magic entails, how strong it is,  _anything_. If we chased her down we’d have no home advantage  _on top_ of the fact that we have no idea what we’re up against.”

“So,” Jinyoung started, foot moving inside his boot anxiously, “we need all of our army generals to come together and form the best plan we have.”

“What sort of plan requires all of our armies?” Jackson asked incredulously.

“A war, Jackson,” Jinyoung explained quietly, only loud enough for the three men around him to hear. “We’re waging war against Queen Lynn and her kingdom before anymore harm can be done to us.”

o.O.o

Jinyoung sat on the inn bed miserably. Everyone had advised that the rulers, along with the people that accompanied them, get a good night’s rest before making any decisions. They all signed the papers before they left, and, if Jinyoung was weak enough, he could invite Jaebum to spend the night with him and have no fear about being arrested. He could bring Jaebum out into the town square, kiss him fucking  _senseless,_  and here would be no repercussions to speak of. He could  _love_  Jaebum without fear of losing everything he has.

But that wouldn’t be possible; he’d hurt Jaebum with his words too many times to count. There would be no way in hell that his Guard would just take him back with no questions asked, with no doubt plaguing his mind–

He didn’t even hear the door open, but before he knew it, he was being tackled back onto the stiff bed below him. “I can’t believe I almost fucking  _lost you_.” It was a familiar voice–a familiar  _body_ , if he was being completely honest with himself there–but he still couldn’t believe that Jaebum was…  _hugging_  him. “Oh my god I fucking  _told you_ , I  _told you_  those threats had some validation and you blew me off like a leaf off a tree in the fall and I–”

“Jaebum, love,  _shhh_ ,” Jinyoung cooed, wrapping his arms around the elder and completely ignoring how difficult the armour on him made it to breathe. “I’m okay, don’t worry, ‘Bummie.”

And suddenly Jaebum was sobbing into his shoulder, body shaking and shivering and oh  _god_  the broken cries of the man he loves hurts more than any arrow piercing his heart.

The Guard calmed down eventually, doing his best to regulate his breathing and get up off of Jinyoung. The King watched as Jaebum took off his armour, as well as the shirt underneath it, only to reveal the large expanse of tanned skin, muscle rippling underneath and showcasing scar upon scar. But the most important thing Jinyoung saw was the titanium crown, sitting pretty and perfect between Jaebum`s pecs.

“You… kept it…” Jinyoung whispered, rising from the bed and pressing himself against his Guard.

“I could never throw something like this away, Jinyoung…” Jaebum watched as Jinyoung began to take off his jacket, quickly followed by the many shirts layered underneath it. “Just because you don’t want to be with me anymore, doesn’t mean I want every part of you in my life erased–” He cut himself off when he saw the gold sword adorning Jinyoung’s chest, in just as good of a condition as Jaebum’s own charm.

“You’re a bold man, Jaebum, for saying I don’t want you.” Jinyoung didn’t say anything else as he grabbed on tightly to Jaebum’s muscled shoulders, dragging the Guard down with him as he leaned back on the bed.

“Jinnie, if someone walks in–”

“Then they can enjoy the view or leave,” the King hissed, trailing kissed down the elder’s neck, “but I’m not about to keep myself from you. Have I made myself clear?”

Jaebum grinned wildly at the man beneath him, more than content to let Jinyoung do as he pleased for the moment. 

“Of course, My King.”


	10. Chapter 9

For the first time in months– _years_ , almost–Jinyoung woke up, completely calm and completely content with his situation. The sun, just risen and golden in all its glory, was shining through the window and warming Jinyoung`s skin wonderfully. It was only adding to the head coming from his right, and only when Jinyoung’s brain became fully aware, did he note that heat was radiating from Jaebum.

Jinyoung felt himself smile softly and an overwhelming happiness bubble up in his chest once more, because this was the man he loved more than anything, right there in his arms, looking more peaceful than Jinyoung had ever seen him. Try as he might, though, he couldn’t fight down the guilt that built up in his chest when he thought about the pain he cause his Guard.

“I could hear you thinking in my  _sleep_.” Jinyoung started, looking down at Jaebum with wide eyes. “Seriously, Jinyoung, it’s okay. I know you feel bad, but you did what you thought was right.”

Jinyoung frowned at nothing in particular as he played with Jaebum’s unruly hair. “It doesn’t mean I’m proud of it; hurting you was never my intention–”

“Jinyoung, my little butterfly, please stop blaming yourself.” Jinyoung knew his cheeks turned crimson at the pet name, so he simply leaned down and buried his face in Jaebum’s hair.

“I missed you, ‘Bummie…”

Jaebum knew that the King wasn’t talking about an absence on the elder’s part; he missed Jaebum’s hugs, the kisses whenever he was stressed out with paperwork, and hand holding during their secret walks in teh garden. “I never left, Jinyoung.”

o.O.o

The inn keeper easily allowed the three rulers and their generals to occupy the dining room, making sure that they all remain undisturbed while they discussed their plans.

“I can’t believe she’s going to ruin all the years of peace we’ve been having,” Jackson muttered to himself. He looked nothing like the King who walked into his palace a few months ago, brown hair disheveled to kingdom come and only wearing a loose shirt and pants. Mark looked a little less ragged, more like he just rolled out of bed as opposed to a battle with a lion. Jinyoung himself was the most composed, with his white blows and emerald green vest neatly buttoned up, the shirt tucked into his crisp pants.

“Jinyoung, with all due respect, fuck you.” Mare’s and Ignis’ Generals tensed up at the crude language, but anyone who had seen the rulers gathered in Silex knew what went on.

“It’s not my fault I try my best to actually look like a king, Jackson,” Jinyoung teased, sitting down at the table with Jackson and Mark. “As much as it is a privilege to banter with you both, we really should begin forming out plan.”

The joyful air in the room was quickly snuffed out, replaced with a calculated focus.

“So,” Mark sighed out, “we’re up against a witch, and we have no idea what said witch can do. I’ve heard stories of them turning people into animals, but also pulling their bowels out from their throats without so much as touching them.”

Jackson looked at his partner with a horrified stare, doing his damnedest to get that image out of his head. “That’s fuckin’  _gross_.”

“But also a completely possible way for us to die if we have no knowledge of what power she has,” Jinyoung explained.

“It’s dark magic,” a voice piped up. All eyes turned to Youngjae, who was staring at the ground. “There’s practically no limit to it.”

“And just how would you know this, Choi?” Jaebum pressed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Seems like something personally involved with the queen would know.”

“Seriously, Sir?” the General spat. “As the leader of His Highness’ army, I have to know all sorts of attacks, no matter how likely they are to occur. Ventus has been radio silent for years, I was simply preparing for everything.”

Jaebum looked like he was going to ask more questions; Jinyoung wasn’t in the mood to separate his Guard and General if they got into a scrap. “Tell us what you know, Choi.”

The General easily agreed, asking kindly for a seat at the table. As he sat down, he started explaining what he learnt from ancient texts. “There’s two types of magic ever recorded on the span of this continent,” he started, “and they’re light and dark. Light can be picked up by anyone at any time in their life, but it’s capabilities are limited; it can’t hurt anyone no matter what, and can’t change people against their will. Dark magic on the other hand, has zero limitations. The only difference is that it’s passed down from generation to generation.”

“Well how does someone come about possessing the skills of dark magic if it’s a genetic factor?” Mark inquired as his eyebrows slowly climbing closer to his hairline.

“Someone has to, in simple words, sacrifice their soul for the powers of Dark magic. So I suppose you can still take it up, but several other people will have the curse of dark magic.”

“Well if it’s just magic with no limitations, what makes it ‘dark’?” Jaebum asked.

“There have been studies made, ages ago, that showed those who used dark magic longer and more frequently went pretty much insane.”

Jinyoung felt his eyes widen. “Lynn leaving the castle to come and kill me.”

Youngjae nodded solemnly. “Exactly.”

“I don’t–” Jaebum stopped himself short to shake his head. “How did you even come across all of this information?”

“I asked Mark for some of Mare’s books; their archive is one of the most extensive in the continent.” 

If Mark was a bird, he’d be ruffling his damn feathers in pride.

Jinyoung looked at Jaebum with irritated concern, because this was one of their  _beast friends_  he was interrogating, and he was being borderline rude about it. The elder seemed to get the message, sighing and looking at Youngjae with a significantly warmer stare.

“Thank you for sharing what you knew, Youngjae.” The General smiled a little, but it seemed…  _forced_. Jaebum decided to ignore it. “Is there any way to tell how far gone Lynn is?”

“If she uses spells like that everyday? I’d give it a month,  _max_ , before she goes off the deep end. Maybe two weeks if it’s more than one spell a day.”

The three rulers let out a consecutive sigh. Jackson pinched the bridge of his nose, deciding to speak up first. “So we could gather all of our soldiers, and it would be a suicide mission because she could annihilate them with a flick of her wrist?”

“So that means we take a small group of soldiers, all willing to take the chance of a horrible, gruesome death, and attack her when she doesn’t expect it.”

“Wouldn’t she be expecting it, though?” Both Mark and Jackson looked at Youngjae with surprise. “You’re noth hot-headed, she would anticipate your attack.”

“ _Hey_ –”

“He’s right,” Jinyoung said, eyebrow arched. “Mark is worse.”

“ _You’re_  the one who suggested war,” Mark stressed.

“Regardless, she’ll be expecting us.”

“We can’t just sit by and let her attack us again, Jinyoung,” Jaebum pressed as he gripped the King’s shoulder.

“I’m not saying we leave it be, either.” Jinyoung let out a heavy sigh. “Silex is known for it’s army, yes, but this isn’t the type of situation where we can use one. We need to be absolutely stealthy, and essentially sneak into her castle and kill her.”

Before Jinyoung could further explain his plan, there was a guard trying to sneak out of the room. 

“Halt!” Jaebum shouted, placing on his hands on his sword. “Where do you think you’re going, soldier?” The soldier just scoffed, making a run for it out of the dining room. 

Jaebum immediately gave chase to the woman, tackling her down the ground before she could reach the door of the inn. She let out angry sounds, writhing in an attempt to shake Jaebum off her. “Get  _off of me_!”

“Who are you and why did you run?”

“Why the hell would I tell you such a thing?” the woman spat out to teh best of her abilities; Jaebum pressing her head into he ground didn’t make that a very easy task. She was about to let loose a few insults, but soon there was a knife pressed to the back of her neck, and she felt a little more inclined to talk.

“Because if you don’t, I could very well try you for treason against any one of those Kings in teh dining room; even worse for you,  _all three_.”

“Y-you couldn’t try me for treason against all three,” she said, voice wavering in uncertainty.

“Are you going to wait and find out?”

The woman seemed to gain back her cool demeanour, scoffing at teh Guard above her. “Do whatever you must, Jaebum Im, but just know that Queen Lynn will not rest until Park’s head is on a pike.”

Jaebum made a small cut on her neck, making the woman cry out in pain. Before Jaebum could demand any more answers out of her, she was choking. Panicking, Jaebum got off of her, but she wasn’t in a better state Jaebum tried to reach out for her and help, only to have his hand swatted away as she continued to suffocate. As she began to struggle less, lacking air in her lungs, blackness slowly crawled in her eyes, making them obsidian orbs before Jaebum’s own eyes.

“Jaebum!?” Jinyoung called, frantic as she rounded the corner. When he saw the sight in front of him, he gasped. “What happened!?”

“She’s an accomplice to Lynn,” Jaebum murmured. “It looks like we found the spy.”

“And she was one of mine,” Mark sighed miserably, walking into the room with Jackson right behind me. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much, Your Highess,” Youngjae explained. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Lynn was using her as a sort of looking glass; watching and listening to us talk.”

“Why would she run if Lynn was just watching through her?”

Youngjae scoffed, something akin to anger lacing the sound. “You really think she’s going to disclose everything to her minions? Does she  _seem_  like a genuine person to you, Sir?”

“You got some personal vendetta against her, Choi?” Jaebum inquired. Youngjae just sighed.

“She’s trying to ruin our home, Sir, I’m surprised you’re not more upset with her.” Jaebum shrugged in response, looking at the dead body on the floor. 

“We need to get this body out before the inn keeper finds it.”

Jackson asked his soldiers to take care of the body before he let himself lean against the wall. “What the fuck is even  _happening_  anymore?”

Mark did his best to comfort his boyfriend, but when he saw that there was no way of doing so while he was staring at the place where the woman had died. Apologizing to his friends, the Mare ruler took Jackson back to his room and tried to lift the latter’s spirits.

“We have to attack now, you know that right?” Youngjae urged. “If she  _does_  know about what we talked about, we’re fucked.”

Jinyoung let out a mix of a growl and a sigh as he squatted down and cupped his hands over his mouth. “I can’t risk putting anyone in danger.”

“If we don’t close in now, Jinyoung, the entire continent could go under.” Jaebum lowered himself until he was eye level with Jinyoung. “I’m not letting all your hard work that went into restoring Silex go to waste because you weren’t willing to use your army–”

“I hate to interrupt you, Your Majesty.” The trio turned to the voice of the inn keeper, who was holding a small envelope in her hands. “A letter arrived for you.”

Jinyoung took the letter gratefully. He looked over the innocent-looking thing, but when he flipped it over to open it, he saw the Ventus seal stamped into the wax. “She  _knows where are are_?” Jinyoung glowered.

“You just saw a guard die at her hands  _remotely_ , and you’re still questioning what she can do?” Jinyoung glared at Youngjae for his comment.

“He’s right, Jinyoung.” The King looked to his Guard incredulously, but Jaebum seemed to be having none of it. “You know he is; you were the one who was jumping down our throats to get moving and start a war against Lynn, so now we’re following through.”

“That was before I realized she could turn our soldiers inside out.”

“Then we’ll make it just us.” The three men turned to the voice, belonging to Jackson himself, accompanied by Mark. “We either day saving the continent or live to tell our children that we saved our home from certain destruction.”

“We don’t even know that she’s planning on attacking,” Jaebum retorted with a roll of his eyes.

“Actually,” Jinyoung whispered as his eyes raked over the words on the paper in his hands over and over again, “she  _is_.” Jinyoung passed the note to Jaebum, who read it aloud.

“ _’Dear Prince–oh, I mean King Jinyoung. Excuse the error, but I’m so used to the foolish, sickeningly kindhearted shenanigans of your father that I forgot you were moved up to the position of King. I’m sure you’ve caught on to my little tricks by now; that General in your position has quite the brain. King Jackson does too, in fact, but he rarely acts like anything other than an excited child.’_ ” Jackson gasped, anger bubbling in his gut. Mark put a hand on his knee to keep him from fully stopping Jaebum’s reading. “ _‘However, I hope you know that any attempt to attack me would prove futile. Why don’t you just hand me your Kingdom, hm? It would prove so much easier than anything you could be planning, and I would make sure your death would be quick and painless. Either way, I suppose that I’ll have control over all four of the Kingdoms whether you like it or not. I hope you choose the route that’s easiest for us all, and not force me to bring you to an unimaginably painful end. Yours truly, Her Majesty Queen Lynn.’_  Does she really sign her name off ‘Her Majesty’?”

Jinyoung wanted to throw up, cry, scream, and punch a wall all at once, and such strong emotions were a little overwhelming. But, as a King, he couldn’t afford to show such weakness.

“If she wants my kingdom,” he said lowly, “she’ll have to  _tear it from me_.”


	11. Chapter 10

_Jaebum was infatuated with the Prince as soon as he laid eyes on the boy. He was stunning, prim in the way he carried himself, but the twinkle in his eyes showed a little bit of mirth beneath all of his regal persona._

_The soldier himself was a little…_ cold _on the outside, and it seemed everyone but the Prince himself saw only that. It was a requirement when you were training to become a part of an army–emotions weren’t quite an option when you were fighting for your Kingdom. But then Jinyoung locked eyes with him once, when Jaebum himself was fourteen and the Prince was thirteen, and Jaebum knew by his tripping over his own feet was a sign that the ‘no emotions’ factor would be pointless._

_So, he watched; he watched as the Prince would sneak past the training grounds with things–a pen and a paper, if Jaebum wasn’t mistaken–, watched as the Prince slowly moved his location closer and closer to where Jaebum trained, watched as the Prince got more and more fidgety whenever Jaebum heard himself be mentioned._

_Then the gorgeous teenager was literally falling at his feet and Jaebum was just_ so amused _._

_He was ecstatic that Jinyoung finally decided to befriend him, to spend Jaebum’s training sessions scribbling something down on his book of papers or practicing with the soldier._

_And when Jinyoung handed him the necklace,_ oh _, did Jaebum’s heart want to flutter right out of his chest; he wanted to sweep the Prince up in his arms and prove that even something as taboo as the candle Jaebum held for him could be celebrated, but he left it be. Having Jinyoung close to him as a friend was more than enough for Jaebum._

_He watched as his beloved Jinyoung turned into a proper ruler of his kingdom; went from a child with bright eyes and big dreams to a force of nature his country would learn to follow. A King. It was hard, sometimes, seeing how Jinyoung would look forlornly at his old poems left in one of the drawers of his desk, but both men knew that if Jinyoung wanted to be the best ruler he could, his dreams would have to either wait or be stopped entirely._

_There were days when Jaebum just wanted to scoop up the younger, protect him from anything the world could throw at him, even though such was entirely unrealistic. Jinyoung would get nowhere as a king if he was shielded from everything, but it didn’t mean that Jaebum had to enjoy it._

Jaebum didn’t know why he was reminiscing in his memories; perhaps because he was fearing death? Wishing to experience all the good times he had with his lovely butterfly before he faced the cruel ruler of the Northern Kingdom? Or maybe he wanted to make himself feel happy, try and take his mind off the fact that his life was going to change drastically in the next twenty-four hours?

“You don’t have to come, ‘Bummie.” 

Jaebum turned around in his spot on the bed, staring at the King as if he’d just asked Jaebum to dance on his head. “You’re joking with me, right?”

“No–?”

“Jinyoung,” the Guard softly called, “my job is to lay my life down if it means saving you; I’m not running away just so I can save myself.”

Jinyoung sighed. He didn’t want to do this, if he was being honest. He wanted to be able to announce his relationship with Jaebum to the whole continent, wanted to call Jaebum his husband and rule over Silex  _together_ , because that’s their lives had been for a while; Jaebum and Jinyoung were together in the good times, and they were in the shit together.

“Jinnie.” Jinyoung snapped out his thoughts when he heard Jaebum calling. “If I die–”

“ _Jaebum_ –”

“I’m fuckin’ serious, listen to me.” The King straightened, but bit his lip and shit up. “If I  _die_ , I don’t want you to become reckless and sacrifice yourself.” Jaebum walked over to him tentatively, taking Jinyoung’s jaw carefully in his calloused hands. “Don’t die for me, Jinyoung. I want you to live for me.”

“I can’t–” Jinyoung tried to finish his sentence, but he started to cry. “I-i don–don’t wanna know what it’s like to l-live without yo-you–”

“Jinyoung–”

“Jaebummie  _please don’t leave me_.” The King became fully nonverbal after that, burying his face in his love’s neck and letting out all his worries and stresses in the form of body-wracking sobs.

Jaebum tilted his head back to stop the tears from falling, cupping Jinyoung’s head with one hand as the other held the King close to him and cursed whatever holy being was out there putting them through this. 

“Jinyoung, you have to know, I will fight with all my strength, until a have no more air in my lungs, to stay with you and live the rest of our live together,” Jaebum softly explained, petting Jinyoung’s fluffy head as he did so, “but I’m just telling you as a precautionary sort of thing.”

“Then you have to promise the same. And,” Jinyoung guiltily whispered, “if it’s not too much, I need you to take my place as King.”

“Jinyoung,  _what_ –” 

“You’ve been by my side this whole time, watching the decisions I’ve made and why I made them; it’s already in my will, so you can’t back out like a chicken.”

Jaebum liked that Jinyoung was cracking a joke, and decided to just suck it up and accept the burden that loomed over his shoulders.

“We can do this, Jinyoungie; we’ll put an end to the witch and we’ll get our lives back.”

“Are you sure?”

“No,” the Guard amended, “but I know that’s what I’m going to be aiming for when I drive my sword through her heart.”

Realistically, that’s not how they were going to end Lynn’s life, but the image calmed Jinyoung down quite a bit.

o.O.o

The road that lead to Ventus was… alarmingly empty, the closer they got to the border. The Kingdom itself was a ghost town, not a sound to be heard apart from the clopping of their horses. The only soldiers they brought with them were the two that joined Jinyoung on his city ventures–Yugyeom and BamBam, if he could remember correctly. Not like he could easily forget a name like  _BamBam_. The seven of them made no conversation, except maybe a comment or two between the soldiers. Jackson and Mark made sure to stay together, as did Jinyoung and Jaebum, but Yugyeom and BamBam were quick to ride beside Youngjae. 

Soon the castle came into view, and suddenly they understood just how  _terrible_  the ruling of Ventus was. The castle was dark as a night with no moon or stars, barely any definition to it than the silhouette. There were vines, thick but with no leaves or flowers, climbing up the walls, and Jinyoung finally realized what sort of evil they were up against; if the appearance of the place was beginning to scare him, what would he do when he actually had to face Lynn?

“I see you chose the painful way to die.” All seven men looked up to where the words came from, taking in the sight of Ventus’ queen floating with lightning crackling around her fingers. She’d forgone her dress, instead choosing an identical top with tight-fit pants and knee high boots. “I’m surprised; why would you not choose the best way for your kingdom?”

“The best way for our kingdoms is to fight for the future!” Jackson shouted, hopping off his horse and nocking an arrow. He ushered his horse out of the grounds, and the rest of the group followed suit.

“You’re all  _foolish_ ,” Lynn hissed. Her eyes landed on Youngjae, and her lips twisted into an evil smirk. “Oh, you came too. That was to be expected, since your Jinyoung’s pet, but I didn’t think you’d have the courage to face me.”

Youngjae drew his sword wordlessly, glaring down the Queen as she landed gently on her feet. Jaebum wanted to ask what she meant, but he knew there was no time for such questions. “This is your last chance to surrender, Queen Lynn–” He was cut off by Lynn’s gasp.

“Oh, they don’t  _know_!” Youngjae’s grip on his sword tightened and his teeth were bared. “This is too good, of this is  _too. Good_.”

“What the fuck are you going  _on_  about?” Mark glowered.

“You don’t really think Youngjae here looked into magic for  _battle actics_ , do you? I thought you’d all be smarter than that.”

All eyes shifted to the General, but Youngjae’s venomous glare was fixed on the Queen.

“Youngjae, what does she mean?”

“See,” Lynn started, walking over to Youngjae and grabbing his chin, “your precious army general has an unknown past; he had no parents that he knew of.” Youngjae ripped himself away from Lynn, refocusing and aiming his sword a her. “So, as one does, he did some digging, and do you want to know what he found?” The General remained silent. “Come on, Youngjae, don’t you want to tell your friends what you found out?”

“Sir?” Yugyeom called, confusion taking over his voice.

“I guess I’ll have to tell them, then.” Lynn grinned evilly and stepped back.

Jinyoung tried his best to lock eyes with Youngjae, but the General was much too focused on the queen.

“Youngjae is the only child I ever had, and the heir to he Ventus throne.”


	12. Chapter 11

If it didn’t mean one less person on his side, Jinyoung would’ve throttled Youngjae to the fucking  _ground_.

“My god, everyone truly  _was_  none the wiser. How can you even call yourself their comrade when you hide such things from them–?”

“Listen lady!” BamBam shouted. “I’m about ten seconds from nailing you in the head with a knife, so either shut down the monologue or give us what we came for!”

Lynn didn’t seem to take too kindly to the soldier’s words.

None of them knew what was coming, but then BamBam was being thrown back at least ten feet and groaning in pain. Yugyeom immediately ran to his partner, panic eating at him as he pushed himself to make it there faster.

“Seeing as I finally have my son with me, I think it’s time for a little bit of a family reunion, no?” Youngjae, to be frank, wanted no part of that.

He didn’t get much of a choice, however, as there were those same vines from the castle erupting from the ground and wrapping themselves around him at record speed. He was completely encased in darkness, and when a strange smell reached his nose before he lost consciousness. 

Jinyoung’s eyes widened in shock and horror. “YOUNGJAE!”

“You’re not worth my time quite yet, boys!” Lynn called, looking more smug than she had any right to be. “But I’ll be back to end you all! Goodbye!” She left in another puff of black smoke, sounding more crazed than they’d ever heard her.

At least Youngjae didn’t lie to them about  _that_.

Before Jinyoung could ask the others what to do, there were other things coming out from the ground a few feet from them. 

“What the  _fuck_  are those!?” Jackson screeched upon the sight of a decaying human head.

“Did she just summon…  _the undead_?” Mark asked bitterly. “I don’t think I have enough knives to kill dead people  _again_.” 

Jaebum was already slashing at the corpses rising from the ground, but the only thing it did was cut off a piece of skull and expose its hollow insides.

“What the fuck are we supposed to do with these?!” Mark cried, throwing a knife at one of the corpse’s skulls. Even though the attack knocked it on it’s back, the corpse was up and moving again not a moment later. 

“Just try everything, will you?” Jinyoung glowered. He lunched forward and swung his sword at the corpse’s hips, successfully cutting off it’s legs. It started to move with its hands, slowly dragging its torso with its remaining limbs, and the horrifying sight completely distracted Jinyoung from the noise going on behind him.

Soon, a searing pain radiated from his back, and the King cried out in shock. Jinyoung made quick work of immobilizing the corpse in front of him entirely before spinning around to bring his sword down on the other corpse.

“We’re getting out numbered  _really quick_!” Mark shouted, kicking a corpse in its leg hard enough that it shattered. “We need to find a way to stop them from popping up.”

“With all due respect, Your Highness,” BamBam yelled, “I think the only answer to that has left the premises!”

 _Lynn. She’s the one that summoned them_ , Jinyoung thought to himself. Much more attentive time around, he spun on his heel and slashed a corpse right in the middle of its torso. Dark, foul smelling blood splashed Jinyoung in the face, and the sight alone wanted to make the King puke out his guts.

The sight of guts falling out of the corpses would forever be engraved in Jinyoung’s mind, intestines slowly slipping out of the openings dealt by Jinyoung’s sword. The King felt himself start to get a headache from all of the horrible smells, and just when he thought he was safe, he felt cold hands cover his eyes. 

It was such a disgusting feeling, the flesh peeling off the bones of the hand and  _god_  Jinyoung really just wanted this all to be over. An arm wrapped around his throat, easily cutting off his airway and his headache was amplified by the lack of oxygen. He tried to claw at the corpse, but the skin just gave way behind his fingers and fell off the bone, getting stuck beneath Jinyoung’s nails and hitting the ground with a disgusting  _plop_.

His vision started to go blurry, and was  _this_  the way Jinyoung was going to die? At the hands of some undead creature as he struggled for his own breath?

Before he could answer those questions, arrows were raining down on the battlefield, carefully missing Jinyoung and his team. The corpse choking Jinyoung fell backwards, its arm hanging loosely around his neck. The King looked up to where the arrows seemed to be coming from, grinning happily when he saw Jackson perched up in a tree and nailing each of his targets with an accuracy only his years of training could give him.

Jaebum, however, looked to be in a much worse condition; small dents in his armour, cuts all over his face, and slowly being approached by more and more corpses. Jinyoung decapitated another corpse, shielding his eyes from the dark liquid threatening to get in them as he surveyed the area. Yugyeom and BamBam seemed to be a lethal duo to the corpses, gliding and twisting past each other as if this was a dance they’d practiced for a millennia. Mark seemed to be growing more and more enraged with the growing numbers, cutting through the corpses violently and delivering one kick to their arms or legs if they didn’t stay down.

The smell of the battlefield was becoming worse and worse, musky sweat and the metallic sting of blood mixing in with the rotting flesh and bone of their opponents. The sound of stepping on the collapsed bodies wasn’t much better, the crunch and the squish of weakened skin riling Jinyoung’s stomach up in the most unpleasant of ways.

It went on like that for some time, slashing and slashing at the corpses until it there was no land in sight that wasn’t covered in the bodies.

“Well, well, well,” a velvety voice called out, oh-so chillingly familiar, “I’m surprised you lasted this long. No one lasts long under the attack of my army.”

“You sent us half-decayed bodies, and you thought we wouldn’t be able to handle ourselves?” Mark hissed. ‘That’s an insult.”

“Mark,” Jinyoung rumbled, “ _shut the fuck up_.” He looked back to the Queen, who was walking along the bodies as if it was nothing. “What the hell did you do with Youngjae?”

Lynn’s lips curled up in a self-satisfied smirk. “I think you’ll soon find out.”

“JINYOUNG!” 

The King heard footsteps behind him, as well as the drawing of a sword, and if he had turned around even a fraction of a second later, Youngjae Choi’s sword would’ve been lodged in his head.

Shock prevented Jinyoung from speaking, because this was his Army General, the man who always made sure Jinyoung and Jaebum were healthy and well-rested on top of his duties as leader of the army,  _attacking him_? He tried to get a better look at the younger man, but Youngjae was kicking Jinyoung in the chest before he could get a good enough look.

He fell to the ground with a groan, cuts and bruises from his previous coming back to bite him in the ass. Youngjae didn’t seem to bother with him as he moved over to Jaebum. The Guard had moved closer to the pair in a duel moments before, but he seemed to be concerned with what he saw in Youngjae’s eyes.

“What did you  _do_  to him?” Jaebum whispered; the General’s pupils were an eerie, glowing purple, face twisted with sadness and regret.

“Oh he’s absolutely aware of what he’s doing, and he wants no part in it” Lynn teased, walking forward until she reached Youngjae. “But wouldn’t it be so  _heartbreaking_  to watch your best friend and  _idol_ ,” she spat as she locked eyes with the two young soldiers on the far side of the grounds, “kill your other best friend and  _lover_ , knowing he was fighting against it the whole time?” Jinyoung bared his teeth at the Queen, getting up to move closer to Jaebum.

Lynn didn’t seem to enjoy that.

She held her hand out, and suddenly Jinyoung’s feet were sinking in the ground and he couldn’t  _move_. He watched as Jackson was knocked down from his tree and fell unconscious upon impact. Mark’s heartbroken cry rang out, but soon he was sinking into the ground just as Jinyoung did, Yugyeom and BamBam being forced to follow suit. 

“See, you’re all great rulers in your own right,” Lynn rambled on, “but there’s one thing that could easily break any one of you beyond repair, and that’s seeing your loved ones being ripped away from you.” She turned to Youngjae, a sweet smile on her thin, cracked lips. “Youngjae, my beautiful son, do what we discussed, hm?”

Jinyoung felt heart-stopping horror build up in his stomach, and he didn’t even register that his hands were slowly sinking in to the liver of one of the corpses because his attention was so focused on Jaebum.

Youngjae drew his sword back, ready for an attack as he let out a small sob, and swung it until it collided with Jaebum’s sword.

“I’m sorry,” the General whimpered miserably, even as he made a cut in Jaebum’s wrist. The Guard shouted in pain, palling to his knees and dropping his sword. Tears were falling from his kind eyes, glowing purple pupils and all. He still looked like the Youngjae they all knew and loved,  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m  _sorry_ –”

Jaebum smiled kindly up at Youngjae, panting as he tried to overcome the pain from the deep cut in his wrist. Fuck, he was losing blood faster than he thought. “’Jae, it’s okay, I know it’s not your fault.”

“No, Jaebum, ‘m sorry, I don’t  _wanna do this_ –”

“I know, ‘Jae, I know, but know that no matter what happens, I’ll  _never_  be able to be angry with you.”

Youngjae’s body started shaking with sobs, but his arms still rose higher and higher, sword catching the moonlight and glinting before it came down and embedded itself in Jaebum’s chest.

“ _NO_!” Jinyoung screamed. He screamed and screamed and  _screeched_  because he was watching the light leave Jaebum’s eyes; he was watching the very reason his heart stayed beating lose his life, and at the hands of a person he loved, no less. Jaebum was losing consciousness quickly, losing  _blood_  so  _fucking quickly_ , but he still locked eyes with Jinyoung, and mouth  _I love you. So much_. 

Then his eyes lost their light and Jinyoung felt himself throw up. He hadn’t eaten in since yesterday, so the bright yellow bile scorched his throat on the way up, but couldn’t bring himself to care.

“Do you see what I mean, Jinyoung? You chose the way of  _suffering_ , when you could’ve died with your beau right by your side–”

“Shut up,” he muttered. “Shut up, you insolent  _bitch_.” 

Lynn was shocked by Jinyoung’s words, eyes wide and taking a small step back. “I beg your pardon?”

“You, of  _all people_ , don’t get to lecture me on how to take care of my Kingdom.” He shifted a little, feeling his toe able to move within it’s confines of the ground. “Look at what yours has become; it’s a fucking shithole where people come to die.” He locked eyes with the Queen and finally decided it was his turn to wear the evil smirk. Jinyoung heard Jackson groan, and everything clicked into place in Jinyoung’s mind. “And something tells me a part of  _you_  died trying to make this all a reality.”

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH, PARK!” she roared; oh, Jinyoung was going to have  _fun_  with this.

“Isn’t it sad, Lynn? That the only people you have to keep you company are  _dead people_? That no one who spends their time living and breathing would want to waste their days on  _you_?” He slowly moved, millimeter by millimeter as he kept bombarding the Queen with cruel questions. 

Youngjae stayed still as a statue, but as he saw Jackson fully wake he looked at a loose bone on the floor. He cast a fleeting glace at the queen next, then to Jackson’s bow beside him. The ruler nodded as he moved at a snail’s pace to nock the makeshift arrow. 

Jinyoung kept rapid-firing insults at the woman meters in front of him. “That you couldn’t even get your own  _son_  to love you like a normal woman? You’re a pathetic excuse for a ruler  _and_  a human being.” To punctuate his sentence, Jinyoung reached to his side and snapped a bone off from one the corpses, throwing it haphazardly at Lynn.

“You may be able to talk up a storm, King Jinyoung, but your aim is as useless as your ruling.” 

Jinyoung grinned happily. “It doesn’t have to be good, it just has to  _distract_.”

Queen Lynn barely had a chance to process Jinyoung’s words before I bone was lodged in her throat. She didn’t scream,  _couldn’t_  scream, as she fell to her knees and gargled up crimson blood, shimmering just as Youngjae’s sword had in the calming light of the moon. Youngjae’s eyes returned to normal, as did his control over his body, and he was running over to the Queen faster than he had ever in his life. He extended the sword across his body to the left, smirking down at Lynn and whispering.

“Goodbye,  _mother_.” With a swift movement of his arm, Youngjae fully decapitated the Queen. He walked over to the fallen head calmly, picking it up by the pitch black hair. Youngjae heard Jackson run over to Mark and help pull the elder out of the ground, but he was too focused on throwing the head against the castle walls. He marched back over to the limp body on the ground and cut off all of its limbs, satisfied when it barely stood out from the corpses around it.

Jinyoung’s heart-shattering cries were what broke Youngjae out of his trance.

The King wanted to claw his own heart out from his chest, get rid of the thing entirely it it meant not feeling this unbearable pain. There was a void in his chest, because Jaebum wasn’t smiling at him or scolding him for being reckless outside of the castle or  _holding him while he cried_. Jinyoung whimpered as he cupped Jaebum’s jaw–it was  _cold_ , and it should be warm,  _hot_ , because Jaebum blushes so goddamn  _easily_. Mark and Jackson, holding hands, looked at Jinyoung with guilt; there they were, so blatant with their affection while Jinyoung held his dead partner in his arms. Yugyeom and BamBam stumbled over while they leaned on each other, the former deciding to fuck over everything and kiss BamBam because he could’ve  _lost him_ , dammit,.

“You weren’t supposed to leave me, ‘Bummie,” Jinyoung whimpered. “You were supposed to fight for us and rule Silex with me;  _I wasn’t supposed to see you die_.” The King started to heave out sobs, tears falling onto Jaebum’s dirt-encrusted armour.

Youngjae frowned as he knelt behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. “I could… save him.”

Jinyoung whipped his head around to look at Youngjae with hope and desperation. “What…?”

“I told you about dark magic becoming genetic, right? I… can give it a try, and i should succeed if I focus hard enough. But…”

“You don’t know if it’ll turn you into your mother,” Jackson finished. “It’s a good concern, but in your research has one spell been proven to do it?”

“It’s all about the strength of the spell, and bringing someone back from the actual dead, is… it’s up there.”

Jinyoung wanted to scream, but his voice just didn’t have the power; bring back the love of his life and risk going through fighting back a maniac while losing a friend, or keep said friend but live the rest of his life in a constant void of unhappiness?

When he looked up at Youngjae with an indescribable sadness, the General knew what choice was made. “Alright, everyone just move. I have no idea what’s going to happen.”

“Wait, what if he isn’t the same?”

“Then we know Jaebum is gone for good and we wouldn’t be killing him,” Jinyoung explained emotionlessly. 

The five men stepped away from Youngjae and… Jaebum’s  _body_ –god, the words just wanted to make Jinyoung puke all over again. Youngjae got on his knees and held his hands an inch or two above Jaebum’s armoured chest. “Come on, Jaebum,” he muttered under his breath, “Jinyoung needs you.” 

A dark purple radiated from his hands and he felt wind start up from underneath him. His eyes snapped open, pure purple as Jaebum’s body began to glow the same colour. A beat passed, then two, and then Youngjae was grunting and collapsing back onto the ground.

“Sir!” the two soldiers yelled at the same time as they ran over to the General. 

Jinyoung, while he was concerned about Youngjae, currently had much more Jaebum-centered problems to attend to. 

He cupped his love’s jaw once again, and waited to see those beautiful eyes once more.


	13. Chapter 13

Jinyoung sighed as he looked down at his necklace, holding it in his hand ever-so-gently. Only fond memories followed the little golden sword, and he was glad he was able to overcome the negative things that followed his beloved.

“You know, even after I was dead, your thinking hasn’t gotten any quieter, My King.” 

Jinyoung grinned widely and spun to face Jaebum with his whole body. “I’ll have you know that my thoughts are the best part about me.” Jaebum laughed kindly and wrapped Jinyoung up in his arms. “My God, it’s still so weird to hug you without your armour.”

“You’re the one who insisted I dress properly for my coronation.”

The King grinned in pride. “You’ll be back in your metal shell soon, Jaebum, I promise.”

“The counsel won’t like that.”

“I think we’ve established that I couldn’t give any less fucks?”

“Ah, that lovely mouth of yours, one of your many charms.”

Jinyoung giggled as he winked up at his husband. “You love my mouth for  _many reasons_.”

“I hate you.”

“You won’t be saying that when this mouth goes to work.”

“ _Jinyoung_.”

The younger man sighed, gripping onto Jaebum’s shoulders tightly just to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. Sensing Jinyoung’s struggle, the Guard placed his hands on top of the ones holding onto his shoulders. 

“I’m here, Jinnie, don’t worry.”

Jinyoung sighed quietly, tears gathering in his eyes. “i know,” he whispered, wiping away his tears, “I know.”

o.O.o

Jinyoung and Jaebum were short an Army General, as Youngjae decided he wanted to help bring Ventus back from the brink of death. When the Kings returned the next week to clean up the decrepit bodies, they were all gone, leaving only dead grass in their wake. Youngjae wanted to stay true to the black of the castle, since his  _was_  still a possessor of Dark Magic, but decided to liven it up with a whole litter of golden accents.

_“I’m fine,” he explained when his friends demanded his status after passing the fuck out. “It was… weird, for sure, but I feel the same.”_

_“You’re sure?”_

_Youngjae flashed his signature sunny smile at the question, nodding happily. I just want to rebuild Ventus. It has the potential for great things.”_

A little firecracker from the army demanded he be taken into consideration for position as General, promising he’d been studying for years on every battle tactic known to man. 

Hyunjin Hwang, for all his bright eyes and big promises, would be the greatest Army General Silex had ever seen; after Youngjae, of course.

o.O.o

Jinyoung looked over his– _their_  kingdom with soft eyes, and if he looked hard enough he could see the points of Mare’s, Ignis’, and Ventus’ castles in the distance. He didn’t have to do it by himself anymore, could  say that he ruled a kingdom with the man who held his heart dear by his side, and the thought almost made him break down in joy.

Yes, he almost lost Jaebum; yes, he almost lost his own life, but it all seemed like a distant memory. He couldn’t tell if the life he was living in was a dream, or if that horrid experience was the dream, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Not when Jaebum was wrapping his arms around him and whispering promises of what would be done to him once the sun sets.

Besides, dreaming or not, Jinyoung thought he had it pretty good.


End file.
